Talking to strangers: Stanton's tactics for "Humans of New York"
Would you stop on the streets of New York City if a stranger asked to take your picture? Would you also tell him your struggles and fears? Since 2010, Brandon Stanton has been doing just that — stopping people across the city to take their pictures and have them tell him their stories.
It started as a passion project but now has turned into the popular blog “Humans of New York.” Over 15 million people follow it on social media. Stanton, the creator, photographer and author of “Humans of New York,” sat down with Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga to discuss his new book, called “Humans of New York: Stories.”
Stanton reveals that it wasn’t so easy when he first started asking New Yorkers if he could photograph them.
“I’ve photographed more than 20 different countries and nowhere do I get rejected more than in New York City,” he said. Stanton added that in New York, he focuses on the individual rather than the crowd, finding that “they are just as open, just as kind and just as interesting as people all over the world.”
His process has evolved over the past five years from simply asking for a person’s picture to taking the time to find out his or her story. As for his approach to his subject, “It has nothing to do with what you say, it’s about the energy that you are giving off.” He finds his subjects are more willing to open up to him because he is a stranger asking very personal questions without knowing their past.
“When a complete stranger comes up, I think you can feel the freedom to express who you are without that being countered by someone’s preconceived notions of you,” Stanton said.
In his photos, Stanton brings to life not only happy and joyous moments but also many different issues that people in the United State face such as health care, veterans returning from war and economic strife. He notes that “Humans of New York” shows that if “you give the average person that much focus and that much attention that their story can be just as interesting or just as captivating as a famous person or a politician.”
As “Humans of New York” has moved further toward storytelling, Stanton is now expanding his work to follow where the story goes, whether through film, traveling abroad or experimenting with long-form storytelling.
Has Stanton’s view of humanity become more optimistic or more pessimistic after his experiences with “Humans of New York”?
“I think that humanity’s got a lot of shadows and a lot of light, and I think it’s a race to see if our light can save us before our shadows destroy us. And who’s going to win? We can only hope,” he said.
