For Follow Friday this week, we shine the limelight on Humans of New York.
“We’ve been best friends since 1967.”
What makes Humans of New York, or HONY for short, such an addictive site is that it features real life situations and struggles that seemingly “ordinary” people face. Being one of the most densely populated cities in US, New York also boasts a steady stream of not-so-ordinary people, so well expressed through these photos.
“Wendell is hands down the greatest homeless fashion designer who ever lived. He makes almost all his clothes from things he finds. I hadn’t seen him in awhile, so I was quite thrilled to walk up on him Tuesday, doing this to a Gandhi statue.”
In this photoblog-turned-book, 29 year-old Brandon Stanton roams the streets of New York and captures simple portraits of people going about with their daily grind. He couples these with poignant quotes from the people featured – sometimes humorous and uplifting, other times deeply saddening.
“She’s a mother in name only. We get in fights, but she’s always so drunk that she never remembers them. We live in the same house, but haven’t had a real conversation in over a year.”
“Want to hear a great Ringo Starr story?”
“Absolutely.”
“Once I was walking into the Staples Center, and I look next to me and Ringo Starr is walking right beside me. I’d been working on a project with his son, so to make conversation, I said: ‘I’ve really been enjoying getting to know your son.’
I said it very casually, but he got very reflective and said: ‘Maybe it’s time I got to know him too.’”
Brandon also goes about photographing fashionable kids (or kids with fashionable mums) in a section aptly entitled Microfashion.
“The Extrovert and The Introvert”
“Her name was Holiday.”
We’re guessing this falls under miscellaneous:
“All you need is love.”
For hours and hours of thought-provoking entertainment, you can check out Humans of New York on Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, and the man behind it on Twitter. In time you’ll see the faces on the street in a different light.