Saturday, 12 October 2013

Photographer behind hit website on the snaps and stories that have won him ...


By

Associated Press




PUBLISHED:


19:42, 11 October 2013




|

UPDATED:


20:18, 11 October 2013



Brandon Stanton rounds the corner, spots a tiny blur of pink, and runs over to ask if he can take a picture. He crouches in a busy Manhattan bike lane to get the shot: a beautiful little girl with pink leg braces, a walker and a big smile, her dad posed behind her.


Stanton posts the picture on his website, HumansofNewYork.com – known to fans as HONY – with a mere two sentences from the father: ‘We go to four appointments every week, but I don’t mind. She’s my blood.’ No names or other details.


Brandon Stanton, creator of the Humans of New York blog, laughing with subject Vic Drabicky, in New York


Real lives: Brandon Stanton, creator of the Humans of New York blog, pictured with one of his subjects, Vic Drabicky, who was snapped carying flowers he was taking home to his girlfriend



Vic Drabicky holding flowers for his girlfriend in New York


In love: Along with Drabicky’s portrait, Stanton posts the quote: ‘Sometimes, when I’m going home to see her, I think: “Nobody should be this happy on a Tuesday”‘



Within an hour, the image has 22,000

likes. Comments like this pour in: ‘HONY. Restoring my faith in

humanity, one photostory at a time.’



Stanton’s magical blend of portraits and poignant, pithy storytelling has earned HONY more than 2 million followers online. Now he’s putting his work in a book, ‘Humans of New York,’ out Oct. 15 from St. Martin’s Press.


Brandon Stanton, creator of the Humans of New York blog, right, after snapping a portrait of Mecit Kabatas and his five year-old daughter Bayza in New York


New friends: Stanton talks to Mecit Kabatas and his five year-old daughter Bayza after taking their photo


Brandon Stanton shows a portrait of Mecit Kabatas and his five year-old daughter Bayza in New York for the Humans of New York blog


Human story: Their photograph, which appeared with the quote: ‘We go to four appointments every week, but I don’t mind. She’s my blood,’ generated 22,000 likes within an hour



Not bad for a guy who once flunked out

of college, was fired from his first job as a bond trader and didn’t own

a regular camera until 2010.


Stanton, 29, who’s from Marietta, Ga., and lives in Brooklyn, shoots every day, taking 5,000 street portraits over the past three years.


As he strolls around, Canon in hand, wearing a backward baseball cap and New Balance sneakers, he’s stopped every few minutes by fans, many of them teenagers. ‘Thanks for inspiring me,’ Sebastian Sayegh, 19, told him.


a woman in New York


Captivating faces: Stanton, 29, who’s from Marietta, Ga., and lives in Brooklyn, shoots every day, taking 5,000 street portraits over the past three years


a man, who was dancing for tips, in New York


a portrait of a young girl in New York


Full of energy: A man dancing for tips (left) and a little girl on her way to school (right) have both been favorites on the Humans of New York blog, which has now become a book



Part of his genius is offering short,

provocative captions that allow readers to imagine the rest of the

story. He quotes a thin, pensive man with a cigarette as saying: ‘I’m a

little bit separated with wife now.’


A guy carrying a bouquet says: ‘Sometimes, when I’m going home to see her, I think: “Nobody should be this happy on a Tuesday.”‘


Some photos are pure celebration, like pictures of kids titled ‘Today in microfashion’: a dapper boy in blue suit and sunglasses, a smiling girl in a bright red, Islamic-style headscarf and tunic.


Brandon Stanton, right, creator of the Humans of New York blog, as he takes a portrait of a dancing Luis Torres, 63, in the East Village


One-off characters: Stanton takes a portrait of a dancing Luis Torres, 63, in the East Village


Luis Torres, 63, in New York


Brandon Stanton, right, creator of the Humans of New York blog, showing Luis Torres, 63, a portrait he just took


Caught in a moment: The portrait of Torres that made the HONY blog (left) and Stanton showing his subject how the photo looks (right)


Tender stories are featured, too,

often emerging from the questions Stanton has designed to quickly

‘uncover the most meaningful events in a person’s life.’ His recurring

‘What was your saddest moment?’ query elicits a lot of ‘the day my

mother died’ quotes.


HONY

has even inspired a parody, Hummus of New York, and copycats – Humans

of Sydney, Humans of Portland – but they are pale imitations.


Stanton accepts no advertising for

HONY, but he occasionally asks fans to support causes related to his

photos.


Rifat Markisic is photographed on East 14th Street in New York


Personal tale: Stanton quotes man with a cigarette as saying: ‘I’m a little bit separated with wife now’


photographer Brandon Stanton, creator of the popular Humans of New York blog, composing a portrait of Rifat Markisic in New York. Markisic, a native of Montenegro, described himself to Stanton as


Unaware: The man in question is Rifat Markisic, who is captured by Stanton while lighting a cigarette



HONY followers donated $300,000 for Hurricane Sandy relief;

$30,000 to send a kid to camp and $100,000 to a YMCA. (Stanton wanted

the fashion label DKNY to give $100,000 to the YMCA after his photos

appeared in a window display without permission; when the company only

gave $25,000, his fans made up the rest.)


He

doesn’t take notes or use a tape recorder: ‘Once they say the quote I

am going to use, I know it. So I don’t have to remember the entire

conversation.’



Brandon Stanton, right, creator of the Humans of New York blog, talking to Marlon Augustine in New York


Subject of the day: Stanton talking to Marlon Augustine (left) in New York



photographer Brandon Stanton, creator of the Humans of New York blog, greeting a previous subject named


Familiar faces: Stanton greets a previous subject named ‘BaLa’, near Union Square in New York



Brandon Stanton, creator of the Humans of New York blog, shooting a portrait along East 14th Street in New York


Perfect shot: Stanton shoots a portrait along East 14th Street in New York





TURNING THE TABLES: BRANDON STANTON AS THE SUBJECT


The Associated Press asked Stanton to answer some of the questions he asks his subjects – and a few others.


Who


Who’s that guy? Street portrait photographer Stanton snapped near Union Square in Manhattan


What was your saddest moment?


I

had flunked out of college and lived with my grandparents for a couple

of years. And during that time my grandfather got really bad

Alzheimer’s. I got back into the University of Georgia right as his

Alzheimer’s was starting to get kind of bad. I knew when I was leaving

he wasn’t going to be the same person when I came back.


What’s your biggest struggle right now?


I’m a single content producer of a blog seen by millions of people. I

don’t want to mess it up and I don’t want to lose it. So it’s always on

my mind. My greatest struggle is hanging out with friends, family and my

girlfriend, and being present.


What advice would you give a large group of people?


Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Humans of New York, when I started

it, was nothing like it is now. … It didn’t emerge from me thinking a

fully formed idea and executing it. It emerged from me tinkering and

working and evolving. So many people wait until the pieces are in place

to start, and often that moment never comes.


Humans of New York


In print: Humans of New York is published on October 15 by St Martin’s Press



In 2011, the AP wrote a story about your plan to take a visual census of 10,000 New Yorkers. What happened to that project?


HONY’s evolved so much. It’s so different from when you guys wrote that

first article. It used to be a photography blog. I can’t call it that

any more. It’s a storytelling blog. Before, I was visually responding to

the street. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. Now I look for

someone sitting alone. I look for people who are approachable.


What was your happiest moment?


That (AP) story was written after six months of obsessively doing this

all day, every day, walking thousands of miles and taking thousands of

portraits and I really hadn’t been able to get any traction or develop

an audience. After that article was written, my Facebook fans jumped

from 220 to 770. … I remember going to sleep that night the happiest

man in the world. After all that struggle, I finally thought it was

going to work.


As HONY

grew, so did comments mocking or insulting the people you photographed.

You finally told readers ‘the right to free speech does not apply

here.’ What happens to negative comments now?


My assistants delete, ban, delete, ban.


You often photograph homeless people and people with disabilities. Does anyone complain about being a poster child?


I’ve gotten some great portraits. I’ve also been cussed out. I just

have to approach everybody the same way and keep my intentions clear.

… If somebody asks me to take their picture down, I do it.


What’s the most shocking thing that’s happened to you?


My fans trend young and they trend female, but one night I was in

Bryant Park and there was this man, about 70, sitting alone on a

computer. I took his photo and said I run a site called Humans of New

York. Then he flipped his computer around. He’d been looking at it.










Comments (49)


Share what you think



The comments below have not been moderated.





Kate,


New York,


3 hours ago


Brandon is a NY treasure. I love his blog, and particularly how he’s evolved from street photography to storytelling and portraits. Darned good photographer to boot.





Jo,


Sydney, Australia,


4 hours ago


New Yorkers are fake fake fake!


2 of 4 repliesSee all replies





Jo,


Sydney, Australia,


2 hours ago


I know it’s a cheap comeback but it’s ‘you’re’ not ‘your’. Check your grammar before calling somebody an idiot.





Pepper,


London, United Kingdom,


58 minutes ago


What a ridiculous sweeping statement, Jo. I used to live In New York and they’re as “real” as they come. Real New Yorkers are really great, very cool people. Maybe it’s your own attitude that’s made you so cynical. It wouldn’t surprise me if you’d never actually been, and just like to make your judgements from something you read or see on TV.





Sally,


Newbury,


9 hours ago


It’s my birthday Oct 29th it’s on my wish list. Love it.





Markeed Dasaad,


Nutbush, United Kingdom,


9 hours ago


Get a job ya bum!





Truthseeker,


Atlantis, United Kingdom,


10 hours ago



We each see what we see !!





reading rat,


reading Berkshire,


11 hours ago


I follow his posts. Very enjoyable





gemini28,


Rhondda, United Kingdom,


13 hours ago


I have to disagree. It’s not the global appeal of New York it’s the global appeal of humanity in all it’s glory. Different shapes, sizes, sex, ages and stories but still all a piece of humanity. That is what people find in these pictures….laughter, pride, love, sadness and every other emotion. In a time of such dissent between the people in charge the average person needs to know that most people are just like us at heart and that is why people log in to have a look.





CharleysAngel,


Ireland,


13 hours ago


After dreaming of this for long time I finally got to visit NY 5 months ago in May. I hated the place! It’s smelly and dirty and people are so rude. Eugh. I can never watch movies made in New York like I did before.. I wish I would have never gone it’s like I lost the dream world I had built inside my head..





Alix,


Yeovil,


13 hours ago


Looks exactly like ‘ Folk i Trondheim ” book to me, printed in 2009, even has the same front page layout! Shame the photos are not so good!





Angela,


London, United Kingdom,


15 hours ago


I love every photo and “story” attached. This is my favourite blog. I fee so proud of him and happy for him that he’s getting the recognition he so greatly deserves! Good for you Brandon.



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