The Humans of New York project began in 2010, when history graduate Brandon Stanton lost his job as a bonds trader and moved to the big apple. Having previously dabbled in photography as a hobby, he decided to make it his career. The aim was to take 10,000 portraits of people on the streets of New York and pin them on a collective map. However, the project quickly evolved into something very different when Stanton transferred the photos to Facebook and began captioning them. Short snippets of information eventually became full-length interviews. Today HONY is one of the most celebrated photo-journalism projects of the decade with over 15 million Facebook likes, a best selling book and an increasingly relevant international outreach. Along with being invited to speak at numerous universities in both Europe and North America, In 2013 Time Magazine featured Brandon on their “30 Under 30 World Changers“ list.
It seems that the page has been so successful as it appeals to both our curiosity and our sense of empathy. The photographs are simplistic, capturing the subject in their most natural state and their accounts are often incredibly intimate. Whilst speaking at University College Dublin, Brandon discusses the importance of approaching people with positive energy so they can feel comfortable when opening up about sensitive topics. While some accounts of love, loss and desperation will bring a tear to your eye, stories of little defining moments and the day-to-day are likely to make you smile. The page acts as a celebration of the individual. In a city as fast-paced and hectic as New York, it is easy to pass everyone by without ever considering who they are, or what they have experienced. HONY suggests that everyone has something worthwhile to share, the child at the park and the man on his smoke break.
In many cases Humans of New York has succeeded in acting as a link between people and the online community, allowing them to benefit. While revealing so much of yourself to the internet is sure to be nerve wracking, people are often met with words of support and encouragement. No site is safe from the reaches of internet trolls, but in the case of HONY, most people featured have received an overwhelmingly positive response. Brandon has been able to assist in raising money and awareness for victims of Hurricane Sandy, along with raising funding for adoption, education, children with disabilities and equal opportunities for youth living in high-crime areas of the city.
The project has also made it abroad, with Brandon traveling to Iran and then later partnering with the UN in 2014 to work in 11 countries. In 2015 he visited Pakistan, making his way from Karachi to Lahore and completing a photo series that challenged the way the public looks at the nation. Often subjected to stereotypes of corruption and terrorism, the set aimed to show a more sympathetic and representative side of Pakistan. While it was made evident that it is indeed a developing country, with many people expressing the desires to have access to healthcare, education and stability we were not shown a people of desperation but rather, of diligence and hope.
A man living with a physical disability discusses how supportive and inclusive his family and community have been:
“I was born paralyzed from the waist down. But this community is so tolerant that I never had to worry about fitting in. I only had to focus on improving myself. Everyone treated me as normal. I got everything my older brother got, including punishment. I never once escaped a spanking. I dove off cliffs. I swam. I played cricket and badminton. I climbed trees. The only thing my family told me not to do was play music, because they thought it would distract me from my studies. But eventually I got so good, they couldn’t even tell me to stop that.”
Man explains what it was like growing up in poverty:
“There were no paved roads here when I was a boy. We had to walk for 3 days to get to places that only take 2 hours now. There was never any money for school. We had no wealth or property. Beginning at six years old, I cleaned dishes at a restaurant until 9 pm. Then I would go to sleep and start again. All my money went to my parents. I’d hear stories about cities and airplanes, but they seemed like fairy tales. I’d dream of visiting these places, but before I could get too far, I’d be hungry again. So I grew up thinking that the entire world was like our valley. I thought all children lived like me. Then one day when I turned 16, I had the opportunity to visit to the city of Gilgit. I couldn’t believe it. I saw a boy eating at a restaurant with his father. He was my age. He was wearing a school uniform. I broke down in tears.”
Worker discusses how he become trapped in a situation of bonded labor, working for the brick kilns:
“My sister’s kidneys were failing. We tried to raise the money to save her. We sold our cattle. We sold our property. We sold everything we had. When we ran out of options, I took a 5,000 rupee loan from the brick kiln. I thought I could pay it back by working for 15 or 20 days. But when I thought it was time to leave, the kiln owners did the accounts. They told me: ‘You lived in our house. You ate our food. You owe 11,000 now. If you have 11,000 rupees, you can go. Otherwise get back to work.’ They worked me harder. I never saw my wages. If I wanted to stop, they beat me. A few months later, my grandfather died. I asked for a few days off to arrange his funeral. ‘You owe 30,000 rupees now,’ they told me. ‘If you have 30,000 rupees, you can leave. Otherwise get back to work.’ Now I owe 350,000 rupees. And my sister died a long time ago. There’s no way out. Soon my debt will pass on to the next generation.”
The topic of modern-day slavery in Pakistan was also brought up and the world was eager to support the efforts of local activists. One of these activists is Syeda Ghulam Fatima, who has been working tirelessly to eradicate workers from bonded labor. As both a woman and an advocate she has regularly been subject to various forms of torture, including electrocution. With the help of the online community, in a mere 96 hours over 73,000 people raised 2 million USD for Fatima’s organization.
In September Brandon spent 10 days in Europe documenting the refugee crisis in partner with the UN Refugee agency. The series begins with a photo of Muhammed, an English Literature student from Damascus who fled once war broke out. Brandon first met him in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2014 and he then worked as an interpreter for a set of interviews with individuals who were forced to flee the advance of ISIS.
The mainstream media has often shared information regarding the crisis in a way that is both impersonal and occasionally insensitive, beginning with the terminology used. The words “migrant“ and “refugee“ have often been used interchangeably. According to both the Oxford and Merriam-Webster dictionaries, a “migrant“ is someone who moves in search of work. Therefore, the use of this term as opposed to “refugees“ is seen as undermining the struggle of people who have left their homes to escape political turmoil and physical danger. In contrast, the photo series aims to capture the situations in a way that is more sensitive and personal. A few people do not wish to show their face and this is respected. Brandon has suggested that while these people are all part of a large population movement, their experiences are “unique and singular tragedies“. The series takes a very individualistic approach which in an important contrast to the ways in which mass media often groups everyone together with numerical values and reified terms.
The photos in this Refugee Stories series were taken mainly in Greece, Hungary and Austria and while they vary greatly, there are many similarities in their stories; the plastic boat, the loss and the hope for a better future.
“My husband and I sold everything we had to afford the journey. We worked 15 hours a day in Turkey until we had enough money to leave. The smuggler put 152 of us on a boat. Once we saw the boat, many of us wanted to go back, but he told us that anyone who turned back would not get a refund. We had no choice. Both the lower compartment and the deck were filled with people. Waves began to come into the boat so the captain told everyone to throw their baggage into the sea. In the ocean we hit a rock, but the captain told us not to worry. Water began to come into the boat, but again he told us not to worry. We were in the lower compartment and it began to fill with water. It was too tight to move. Everyone began to scream. We were the last ones to get out alive. My husband pulled me out of the window. In the ocean, he took off his life jacket and gave it to a woman. We swam for as long as possible. After several hours he told me he that he was too tired to swim and that he was going to float on his back and rest. It was so dark we could not see. The waves were high. I could hear him calling me but he got further and further away. Eventually a boat found me. They never found my husband.”
Despite the tragedies, a few of the stories show the way in which acceptance and kindness has had an incredible impact on the lives of some refugees:
“After one month, I arrived in Austria. The first day I was there, I walked into a bakery and met a man named Fritz Hummel. He told me that forty years ago he had visited Syria and he’d been treated well. So he gave me clothes, food, everything. He became like a father to me. He took me to the Rotary Club and introduced me to the entire group. He told them my story and asked: ‘How can we help him?’ I found a church, and they gave me a place to live. Right away I committed myself to learning the language. I practiced German for 17 hours a day. I read children’s stories all day long. I watched television. I tried to meet as many Austrians as possible. After seven months, it was time to meet with a judge to determine my status. I could speak so well at this point, that I asked the judge if we could conduct the interview in German. He couldn’t believe it. He was so impressed that I’d already learned German, that he interviewed me for only ten minutes. Then he pointed at my Syrian ID card and said: ‘Muhammad, you will never need this again. You are now an Austrian!’”
“I studied to be a teacher, but I’m young, so I knew I’d be forced to fight. I don’t like fighting. I don’t like blood. But I was the only one working so I couldn’t leave or my family would go hungry. But my mother begged me to leave. She kissed my feet. She said she wouldn’t mind starving if she knew that I was safe. I hired a smuggler but he took all my money and left me at the border. He told me that he’d call me when the passage was safe, but then he turned off his phone. I was all alone and stuck without money. I called my mother and she said that she’d pray for God to send someone to help me. Then I met this man. I told him my story and he loaned me the money I needed to get to Europe. He treated me like one of his family. I’ll pay him back when I get to Germany, but until then I’m trying to return the favor by helping him carry his children.”
HONY shows that social media is becoming increasingly important in enabling positive change by reaching a large and diverse audience. Brandon makes it clear that while he is immensely proud of his work, his success would not have been possible at an earlier time. While it may be easy to regard online activism as a hollow attempt at involvement, internet giving has gone mainstream and is proving to be increasingly effective.
If you’d like to read more stories, be sure to check out the Humans of New York website or like the Facebook page.
Words by Tamyra Denoon