14 DAY TRIAL // What started as a simple blog, with photos and stories of random people in the streets of New York is now a worldwide phenomenon. Humans of New York inspired a big number of other aspiring photographers to go out and explore the people living in their cities, to share their photos and stories with the world.
Brandon Stanton, or the man behind HONY, began taking pictures of people in the streets of New York in 2010. He moved from Chicago to New York after losing his job, and decided to work on his passion – photography. New York's colorful population proved to be the perfect subject for the blog.
In the mini documentary embedded below, about The Humans of New York, Brandon says, “I run a blog called Humans of New York and every day I walk the streets of New York city and I take photographs of strangers.”
Talking about how he first started the blog, Brandon recalls he didn't even have a plan, he just liked taking photos.
When Brandon first started, the idea was to create a photographic census of New York City, but after several months, HONY turned into something more and Brandon became a storyteller. The blog took a life of its own as Brandon started adding quotes and life stories to his photos, bringing them a step closer to the readers.
It became more about “picking a random person of the street and celebrating them on a stage every night.” The more people he photographed the more interested he became in hearing people's stories. He photographs things that other people just pass by in the street every single day without even noticing, puts them in a still frame and gives them a meaning through a story.
The book by the same name, released as a companion to the blog, serves the same purpose.
HONY reached 1,692,952 likes on Facebook and the book jumped to number one on the New York Times print best sellers list. Almost every major city in the world now has a blog entitled “Humans of ...” that has thousands of followers. People have even started using phrases like “this is such a HONY picture.”
Besides the photos and the storytelling, Brandon started helping people through his blog, raising money for charity and turning HONY into a means of spreading kindness across the globe. Humans of New York reminds people that even if we are so very different, we all have a story to tell.
Everyone has been asking what the secret behind his success and motivation is. To that question Brandon replies, “I photograph everything that makes me happy and it turns out it makes other people happy too.”
In the video below, Brandon explains the concept behind HONY and how he started photographing the Humans of New York.