This Is New York: Brandon Stanton, ‘Humans of New York’ Creator

Stanton’s goal is to create an “exhaustive catalogue of the city’s inhabitants” by photographing and mapping 10,000 New Yorkers. He’s at about 3,700.

“This photo was taken around midnight on a Brooklyn-bound C Train. The son was sprawled out on the father’s lap, sleeping. The father was cradling the boy’s head in his hands. It was a pretty touching scene and I wanted to photograph it, but I was very tired myself and I wasn’t sure how much I’d be able to capture from such a close distance. Then suddenly, the father lifted his son into a sitting position, and leaned in so they were touching faces. I quickly pulled my camera from its case and snapped a shot. One of the most natural, beautiful moments I’ve ever been able to capture.” Courtesy of Brandon Stanton/Humans of New York

NEW YORK—New York City boasts eclectic scenes of human activity and interaction on a daily basis—whether it’s an elderly couple helping each other down the stairs, a debonair man clad in a red and green checkered suit with a chain wallet, or a girl in a blue dress spinning a hula hoop as she draws a bow across her violin. Photographer Brandon Stanton’s project, Humans of New York, has attracted a massive following through capturing on camera those “only in New York” moments and sharing them online.

Stanton’s goal with Humans of New York (HONY) when it began in 2010 was to create an “exhaustive catalogue of the city’s inhabitants” by photographing and mapping 10,000 New Yorkers. He’s at about 3,700.

As Stanton inched toward his goal, his work took on a deeper tone. The interaction he has with his subject often ends up as part of the story that accompanies the image. More than a caption, it provides a peek into the moment strangers meet and share an exchange.

Choosing subjects is random and arbitrary. “I want to make it as difficult to find a thread in my photos … I do that by keeping a completely open mind and just looking at everybody and anybody who strikes me for any reason, you know that kind of makes me double-take,” Stanton said. “Normally it’s when I was trying to take a certain picture, and something completely unexpected happened that the picture turned out to be 10 times better than I thought it was going to be.”