Before I moved to NYC, I was hooked on an Instagram feed entitled "Humans of New York." The photojournalistic nature of the photos really spoke to my own style of photography. The feed featured a few pictures a day of people in NYC and a small question or blurb about their lives. Some questions were along the lines of "if you could give one piece of advice to a large crowd, what would it be?" and others were "tell me your saddest memory" and others just featured adorable children stylishly dressed featuring the caption "Today in Microfashion." I always liked HONY, but it wasn't until I moved here that I realized why I liked it so much. I was drawn to the humanity that the feed highlighted. Some of the photo/story pairings literally brought me to tears. Other made me chuckle. The photographs were gorgeous and well-composed. There are over 8 million people on this tiny land mass. Everyday we bustle past people on the streets, in restaurants, on the train, in stores, coffee shops. And we walk fast, with our heads down, focused on getting to our destination without knocking some one over (or getting hit by a cab). We live very isolated, trusting no one, our defenses always up, staying alert to danger and also trying to zone out with our music as we travel.
What Humans of New Yo
rk does for me now is highlight what we often miss in our hurry. Children walking home from school, a homeless man looking for change, a woman journaling in the chaos of Grand Central, couples embracing. Stories fly from the mouths of people who may be very lonely and just want a listening ear. Often people who are photographed are those who are marginalized. Homeless people, kids in Harlem, people who work night shifts. I think those most likely to get photographed by Brandon Stanton are those who are pausing from the chaos. He likely wouldn't approach someone running through the intersection. HONY is a reminder to slow down. To look around. To listen to people, to ask them questions. One face at a time, thousands have been photographed out of millions. And from what I understand the photographer has no intention of stopping. We all have a story to tell.
Brandon* released a book** in October - a coffee table book featuring a few hundred of the stories and faces that make up Humans of New York. I don't think he was expecting the success he received - not just from New Yorkers, but from people all over the country. Even the world. Knock off blogs have been created, all telling people's stories with their photograph as a companion.
Brandon* released a book** in October - a coffee table book featuring a few hundred of the stories and faces that make up Humans of New York. I don't think he was expecting the success he received - not just from New Yorkers, but from people all over the country. Even the world. Knock off blogs have been created, all telling people's stories with their photograph as a companion.
I purchased a book, kept following the blog and Instagram feed and kept hoping that maybe one day I would be featured on this feed. On Tuesday, a picture of a man who works at Barnes and Noble appeared with the caption: last minute book signing at Barnes and Noble on the upper East side, tomorrow evening. I had to go. Crammed into Barnes and Noble with thousands of others like me, I waited in line for almost 2 hours. And something crazy happened. All the nameless people I was waiting with became HONY friends. We started talking, swapping stories, each sharing our love of the blog and Brandon's work and how we appreciate the way he highlights life in the city and humanity here. Through his book, 3 or 4 people out of 8 million in the city, and thousands at a book signing, got to know one another. And I think that's what the goal of my life is - getting to know people. Hear their stories. Share their joy and their pain. Learn about them, invest in them. And Humans of New York is just one way that happens in my life.
Brandon signed my book, and the Barnes and Noble people bustled us away in a flurry. Too many people wanting books signed for small talk. Which was sad, and probably just the opposite of HONY's purpose. But nonetheless, I now have one more cherished memory from my time in NYC.
And maybe we'll meet again. Maybe I will yet be photographed as a part of the Humans of New York.
*Go to his blog, http://www.humansofnewyork.
**I actually posted a video on my blog around the time the book was released, a Nightline interview conducted with Brandon. Check it out here: http://corinnenyc.blogspot.
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