Humans of New York: Humanity at its Best
Have you ever looked at a picture and watched it come alive?
Brandon Stanton is the photographer of the renowned blog Humans of New York, also known as HONY, which features New Yorkers in the midst of their everyday lives. Brandon travels all over the city to take these artistic street portraits. Thus far he has taken over 5,000 portraits.
Brandon created the blog in 2010 after he arrived in New York City following his departure from bonds trading in Chicago. Brandon initially set out to photograph 10,000 New Yorkers, but soon HONY became much more than just that. He not only takes pictures, but has also started collecting quotes and short stories from his subjects. Now, after just three years, HONY has become a vibrant blog on Facebook and Tumblr with over one million followers worldwide.
It’s amazing to see what pictures Brandon takes and the quotes or anecdotes that come with them. It is very admirable how he captures the city from its demographic diversity to its daily street fashion. There is so much beauty and hardship in this city. Without HONY I’d would never have opened up my eyes to see all the types of people that New York really holds. Brandon has a remarkable way of capturing people’s troubles, inner desires, and happiness.
I love that Brandon is a self-taught photographer but he has still been able to make his photography so strong and so powerful. There is more emphasis on the person or people being photographed rather than on the artistic composition. The focus is completely drawn onto the person and the “raw” emotions that are portrayed.
Those that we look down at sometimes, without thinking for a second who they are or what they are all about, are actually people with real stories to share. Everyday, 50,000 people look at the HONY pictures. I love the comments people make as well. Every post gets thousands and thousands of comments daily. They open my eyes up even more to view people’s stories in a different light.
HONY is proof that humanity still exists. My favorite example of this is when Brandon revealed the story of six-year-old Rumi and his mother. They were at Washington Square Park selling cowboy gear so that he could save up enough money to buy a horse. Brandon took action immediately by setting up a plan to send Rumi to a Wild West Adventure. His goal was $7,000 for this all expenses paid trip. He posted his idea on Facebook and within just fifteen minutes he had more than enough to cover the trip. By the end of the night, HONY had collected $32,167. The extra money went out to a program that provides riding lessons for children with disabilities. How amazing is that!
There is just so much awe in this whole situation. Rumi’s mother is an incredible person for offering her time, love, and support for her son. The fact that Brandon went out of his way to make this boy’s dream come true is nothing short of wonderful. The way people stopped to look at Stanton’s post and actually respond by taking money out of their own pockets is just as amazing. This one post and one action with the help of so many people show the kindness and generosity of the human spirit, as well as that of HONY.
Every day I look forward to seeing more of HONY’s work on the blog. It brings out a range of emotions from sadness to anger to joy to laughter. I feel HUMAN. A picture can be worth a thousand words; HONY brings all these pictures to life.
I love the idea of this blog, Coincidentally, I have actually seen some of these photos while scrolling through Facebook. I agree with Brandon’s ability to capture so many raw emotions in just one snapshot. He definitely deserves the audience he currently receives.
I found a similar site, called the 100 strangers Project. The concept is pretty much the same, but it includes any photographer willing to take photos of at least 100 strangers. I wonder if Brandon has been inspired from this project, since he started his blog in 2010, while the 100 Strangers Project begun in 2007.
Here is the link:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/pool/
I really enjoyed this blog. It is amazing how Brandon can turn ordinary everyday people that we see into something important. Normally, one would not be interested in a random persons life but with this blog one is intrigued with everyone. The story of six year old rumi and his mother was also moving. It’s amazing how much of a difference one person can make in someone’s life.
When I begin to look at Humans of New York, I am unable to stop scrolling. The site is positively captivating – as Rana says, the blog draws attention to the “beauty and hardship” and diversity of our world. Brandon may not be a professionally trained photographer, but he obviously sees art everywhere in the world around him. And his photos highlight what is interesting and valuable about each one of us.
Merlyn—I agree that it would be interesting to know why Brandon began this mission to take 10000 pictures of New Yorkers.
Rana, I remembered seeing that exact picture of Rumi and his mother on Facebook when it was released by Brandon. I had totally forgotten about it and I’m so glad that you followed up on the story; I never, ever would have expected that Brandon was able to raise so much money from a simple picture and a few words! One thing I absolutely ADORE about HONY is its briefness. Many people look at HONY’s pictures on their Facebook newsfeeds and everyone is always just trying to scroll quickly enough to get to the next post. Brandon has a gift of picking out just the essentials and letting the image do the talking.
As soon as I saw this blog, I loved it. I agree with Olivia, once I start scrolling from the top, I can’t stop!
The unique images that this photographer catches–as well as the stories he posts below them–really are profound.
It takes skill to tell a story with a photograph. “A picture is worth a thousand words” and all that jazz. But, what few people realize is that it takes great skill to tell a story with words–with only a handful of words.
Now, the stories shared on HONY range from sentences, to fragments, to paragraphs. However, it is still astounding how each image, when accompanied by a single sentence, can turn a thousand word story into a thousand-page novel within one’s own imagination.
I am inspired by HONY and am certainly already following it on Tumblr and checking in on the homepage every once in a while.
I’m a Human of NY too. I have to keep up with what’s going on in my city!
HONY seems like the rawest and realest source for that.
The fact that numerous blogs and projects were inspired by Brandon’s work is a very strong testament of the appeal of his photography. There was a guy back in my high school who went around the school taking photos of students that caught his attention (my best friend and I became subjects of a shoot after he found us sitting in the middle of an empty hallway while she braided my hair!) Comparing this guy’s project with HONY made me realize how our seemingly large community at school is actually a microcosm of this big, colorful city.
I really enjoy the anecdotes that accompany the photos on HONY. They often add another dimension to the story that the portraits relay. However, the candid shots he posts are just as fantastic. There are a lot of places to go and people to see in New York that are difficult to capture in an instant, but Brandon seems to do this effortlessly.
From this blog review, I can tell that Humans of New York has a strong influence on its readers, even without going on the blog personally. It certainly takes dedication to peruse the city and make it known to the world the condition of New York City and the wide range of situations everyone has to deal with.