Humans of New York

“I’m attracted to the extreme light and the extreme dark. I’m interested in the human condition and what makes people tick. I’m interested in the things people try to hide.” - Johnny Depp  

Humans of New York is one of the best tumblrs I've stumbled across in a long time. the concept is simple, photographer Brandon Stanton documents the minor accidental encounters that fill ones day,  all of which essentially effect ones perception of a city. "For the past year and two months or so I've been walking all over New York. I've been to almost every single neighborhood. And I've just been stopping strangers on the street and asking them for their photograph," said Stanton. "What I've done is I've plotted them on a map here. And I've organized them by neighborhood. So what you can do is click on a neighborhood and scroll through the faces of the people that live in those neighborhoods," said Stanton. Stanton calls "Humans of New York" a slice of New York City life. He says he loves the art form because you never know who you'll meet or what you'll get, like a break dancer with his son or ballet students. "There's a ton of kids on here. And whenever I see an old couple in love I always stop and ask them for their photograph. Part of that is me knowing what people on my Facebook group like also. We love kids and we love old people in love," said Stanton. Humans of New York is part social documentary, part art project. It offers a dialogue on the existentialism of life, enjoyed through the light-hearted snippets from Brandon's lens. Humans of New York represents everything I love about New York: travel photography and small scale community involvement - this is exactly what the world needs - love, understanding, connecting and documenting. C'est Parfait. I've actually been subscribed to this Tumblr for quite a while, its my little slice of heaven online but I had an overwhelming need to share it here. "I'm always very sensitive as to whether or not I'm getting Jaded." Brandon says, and his introspective outlook and his child like enthusiasm make the blog even more endearing. It seems to me, that by examining other cultural phenomenons like Girls, or the Sartorialist,  people are creating a candid dialogue about what they're going through, documenting and finding solace in the fact that several other people also find solace in the same thing create hime truths. In a way, this made me realize that photography creates an intimacy that cannot be replicated in any other art form, it creates a bond between the photographer and the subject - it's raw, gritty and honest  and presents a fully rendered human being oddly enough... I think that this blog teaches us that we can learn from others, and what we can do about connecting with each other on a small scale makes us realize the fragility of our own existences, which is an important reminder in this fast paced world.

Brandon's Story in his own words...

"Hey there.  I’m Brandon.  I get really passionate about things.  At some time in my life, I’ve been obsessed or borderline-obsessed with saltwater aquariums, the baritone euphonium, reading, piano, filming, financial markets, New York City, and photography.  I studied History at the University of Georgia.  During my senior year of college, I took out $3,000 in student loans and bet it on Barack Obama to win the presidency.  A friend heard about this bet and got me a job trading bonds on the Chicago Board of Trade.  I traded for three years.  It went really well for awhile.  But then it went really bad. Whoops. After I lost my trading job, I decided to move to New York City and take portraits of strangers on the street. Mom wasn’t too happy about that decision, but so far it’s gone pretty well. I’ve taken nearly 5,000 portraits and written 50 stories. And I’ve met some amazing people along the way."

"It's important not to rush through life so much that you don't find time to do the things you really should be doing."

"What things do you wish you'd made more time to do?"

"I wish I'd learned to drive a racecar. Learned to cook. Followed up with a certain young lady. I wish I'd read more. I've got this stack of books I'm going through now, but I should have read them 50 years ago. I'm even reading Harry Potter!"

"Do you mind if I take your photo?"

"..."

"I run a website called...."

"Don't give me that shit line. Just take the picture."

“This is a character.”

“Oh, so this isn’t you?”

“It’s not me. But there’s a lot of me in here.”

“I’m in the middle of a spiritual process. I can’t wear color for another six months.”

“I work at the UN. I study happiness, actually.”

“So what’s happiness then?”

“Well it’s very strongly related to income, but only to a certain amount. After about $20,000 a year, it becomes much more dependent on the amount of time we spend with family and friends. This is something we seem to intuitively know at the beginning and end of our lives— but lose sight of in the middle.” 

“I never had any family growing up. But I still went to school everyday. One day, when I was in eleventh grade, my English teacher came up to me and said: “If you graduate, I’ll adopt you. I’ll show you the life. You’ll do things you never dreamed of.” And he kept his promise. He made it legal and everything. On the day I graduated, he was the only family I had there. My father’s taken me everywhere since then. I’ve done all kinds of things.”

Seen in Times Square.

Seen on the Williamsburg Bridge.

“When my husband was dying, I said: ‘Moe, how am I supposed to live without you?’ He told me: ‘Take the love you have for me and spread it around.’”

Seen on the Subway

“Living in New York is a struggle, because you’re always trying to make $5 last for three days. But in a way it’s romantic, because The City always gives you little ways to make it.”

This man walked onto the subway and announced in a loud voice that “Everyone is now on the Love Train!” He then started blasting gospel music, volume 10. Ironically, some people opposite-of-loved it.

Meanwhile in Iran...

“How is business?”

“As God wants it to be.” 

(Tehran, Iran)

This man offered me a cup of tea after I took his photo. It seemed like a good idea to accept his offer. He was super friendly, but it quickly became apparent that the extent of his English consisted of the phrase: “Do you want some tea?” Unable to communicate, we spent an awkward five minutes staring at our shoes and avoiding eye contact, while I burned the shit out of my tongue trying to finish the tea as fast as possible.

I saw these men from the window of a taxi. I asked the driver to pull over, so I could walk back and take their photo. Instead he INSISTED on backing up against a heavy stream of traffic. It was 100 yards of sheer terror. “No, please,” I said. “This is perfect.” Not a problem at all, he insisted.

So much of Iran’s history, as well as world history, is encapsulated in this image. These are the 200 year old etchings of British servicemen, carved into the 2500 year old walls of Persepolis— the markings of a modern empire on the ruins of an ancient one. The drive to empire is not a disease of individual nations, but a disease of humanity.

Behind the Portraits

A City of Faces

An American Photogrpaher in Iran

Check out Humans of New York here.