Photographer Study; Brandon Stanton, HONY

A photographer, (documentary)

Brandon Stanton

Brandon is a self taught photographer in New York, who took to taking photos of people in the street when he was unemployed. he posts a few a day, and writes a caption underneath (a quote which the person says to him during conversation.) 

The blog is called "Humans of New York", and now has several million followers, a best selling book, and most photos get 50,000 likes on facebook (more or less) here are a few examples of his work:

""I haven't slept in a very long time."

"Why's that?"
"I work two jobs at two different hotels. I just finished three shifts in a row. Last night I went to my room service job at 11 PM, and worked through the night until 6 AM. I went home to take a shower, then had to be at the other hotel for my front desk job at 8 AM. I worked there until 3:30 PM, then ran back to the first hotel for another shift that started at 4 PM. I just got off a few minutes ago, and I'm sitting here to rest for a moment before getting on the train home."
"Oh, wow."
"I work this hard because I'm a single parent. I came here when I was very young from the Dominican Republic. I'm very happy with what I have done. I started with nothing and I raised two kids. But I have to work two jobs so that they can get an education and go to college. I tell them everyday: 'Look at how hard I work. Look at how I don't have time to sleep. I can't control my own time. I can't manage my own schedule. This is why you need an education. I work this hard so that you can do the things that I am unable to do, and have the things that I can't have.'"

This man became very animated while discussing his ideas on happiness. He extended the index finger of each hand, and brought them very close together, as pictured: "Babies are happy with this much," he said. "All they need is one ounce of milk." Then he started to slowly widen the space between his fingers, until they were very far apart: "Adults," he said, "are not even happy with this much."

He pulled his fingers close together again:
"You only need this to be happy," he said.

Then he pulled them far apart again:
"You do not need this."

"I'm an artist. I paint murals."
"What would you say to a young artist?"
"Fuck the rules."

"Do what the fuck you want."

There are several things that draw me to this type of photography> Firstly, the interaction between subject and person; you don;t just look at them, you hear something about their personality, and often these little snippets of something are so profound and honest, they change the photo completely. The project spans all ages and races, from all sides of the city, and this makes it really interesting from an anthropological point of view, as well as just happy that such a mix of people exist together peacefully. What is also positive is that members can interact, they post replies and comments, and these are generally sweet and supportive of the person- Brandon has created one of the nicest places on the internet by giving everyone a voice- from subject to viewer, and this equalizing seems to mean that everyone is lovely to each other.  

I was also interested in this because it takes away from normal portraiture, the subject is seen and engaged in conversation, and rarely set up to be photographed; which makes it feel very real. 

I would also like to mention the idea of value in photography and online (which we discussed in class today). These photos are noticed because they can be accessed so easily, and because they relate to hundreds, thousands of people- each one captures something very pogniant, but when looking you often click through them quickly, which seems to lessons their value. Despite this, the quotes and everyday expereinces of people is what has drawn millions of people to this site, so I feel like what is important to note is that value has changed in terms of photography; with this atleast, what isn't important is the physical copy and the individual photo, it is the community created around, the idea of everyday voices speaking and reacting and being seen and saying things which we can ALL relate to; the value of the photo is therefore in its interest and cultural value. Relates to my idea too!