The Most Fantastic Thing EVER!

Brandon Stanton, have you heard of him? I hadn't until a couple of weeks ago, but I'm pretty convinced that I've been living under a great big rock! Brandon is a 28 year old guy who happens to run the most amazing street photography blog; Humans of New York. After losing his job in Chicago he made his way to New York with no plan and a love for photography. He just started walking around New York snapping portraits of strangers. He chats to these people, he asks them questions about their life, he gets quotes from them and then pairs these lines and captions with their portraits and places them on his blog. 

I have always had a love and interest for and in people and I desire to know them. I want to know their stories and what makes them the way they are. I am obsessed with this blog and I spend hours each day looking at these portraits of people and reading the captions. Some of these portraits have caused me to giggle out loud, to cry silently and to realise that we're really not as alone as we sometimes believe or feel that we are.

Here are just a few of my favorite portraits, but there are thousands more so I suggest you go and see for yourself.

"Do you remember the saddest moment of your life?"
“When I realized that I hadn’t killed myself, and I was still alive.”

"What’s the nicest thing your brother has ever done for you?"
“One time he made me a card. It said: ‘Dear Steve, thanks for giving me a new toy.’”

"I pretty much only read fantasy because I’ve had more than enough of reality."

"I came from Mexico."
"Why’d you come?"
"Everybody comes for the money."
"Were you scared?
"Everybody’s scared."

"At first we kept saying: ‘We’re going to beat it. We’re going to beat it.’ Then after awhile we began to realize that we might not beat it. Then toward the end, it became clear that we definitely weren’t going to beat it. That’s when she started telling me that she wanted me to move on and find happiness with somebody else. But I’m not quite there yet. Not long ago a noise woke me up in the middle of the night, and I rolled over to ask if she needed anything."

 

People are so fascinated by Brandon's concept that they have started creating their own sites and Facebook pages such as Humans of Durban, Humans of the World and even here in little old Grahamstown; Faces of Grahamstown. Do yourself a favor - click here and go visit his blog and learn about some of the people in our crazy, beautiful world. You won't regret it.