In his video interview, Brandon Stanton, creator of Humans of New York, discusses the purpose and method of his project. He talks about the importance of allowing an interviewee to speak directly and openly to an interviewer so that the interviewee does not stage himself for the world but presents his real self. Getting people to talk freely, without their guard up, is difficult. You get more out of an interviewee by not treading on the interviewee’s personal mental space, allowing him to voice honest thoughts. It’s interesting that Mr. Stanton is himself being interviewed by someone who apparently came with pre-formulated questions, and Stanton seems to respond in a way that calls attention to himself and his successful endeavors. He seems to pride himself on his ability to ferret out the real person being interviewed, to get that person to talk openly and unreservedly. Stanton claims to have a certain feel for getting past the unseen masks that people being interviewed put on. It seems to me that interviewing has to be learned by trial and error in order to become proficient in it.
The ITT School of Design Video featuring some of the school’s professors and students engaged in the “art” of ethnographic interviewing also emphasizes the importance of getting to know the person being interviewed. This means getting the person talking in a space he finds comfortable. For example, one person who is interviewed spends his days surrounded by jeans. Interviewing him where he is surrounded by what interests him, will make it easier for the interviewer to bring out his opinions. This is in contrast to the student in the street who has difficulty flagging people down to ask them a couple of questions about jeans. The film also presents the problem of how to listen in such a way to what the interviewee is saying without coming off as a nodding “ yes” person so as to keep the interview going. How can an interviewee feel free to speak his mind without some trepidation or feeling of being monitored? One professor says that the interviewer should try to get the interviewee to sing. This is a good metaphor, in that I think by that she means that the interviewer should have fun with the interviewee and thereby loosen him up. The best of all worlds according to this film is to get the interviewee to forthrightly tell his story.
Having fun — for most interviews — is important. The trick is being able to do that without leading the interview in some way.