Let me tell you something — Brandon Stanton isn’t a globetrotting dimepiece with modeling contracts in London, Sydney or Los Angeles. Mr. Stanton also isn’t a Kardashian sibling, nor a firearm-toting, Dan Bilzerian-esque playboy. So when I inform you that the 31 year old has amassed over four million Instagram followers and fifteen million more on Facebook, you might be find yourself asking, “What’s this guy got that I don’t?”
Well, for one, Brandon had a great idea. Okay, not just a great idea, a brilliant idea. You see, Brandon is the artful storyteller behind Humans of New York, a renowned photo blog that features New Yorkers in full individuality via nondramatic street portraits paired with unabashedly thoughtful quotes.
From afar, you could say the sir-shoots-a-lot is little more than a successful street photographer in a place where street photography is practiced like involuntary breathing. But in truth, Brandon has transcended the norm by doing something significantly more impactful — giving individuals in New York, whose voices were once lost in the sonic chaos of taxi horns, sirens and garbage trucks, a responsive channel for their innermost thoughts.
Brandon has also published three books, which serve as masterfully composed versions of his last half decade on the streets. His latest, Humans of New York: Stories, struck #1 on the New York Times’ Bestsellers list within seconds of hitting the stands.
In the gallery above, you will find much more than a preview of Brandon’s latest bestseller, much more than a sequence of forthright photos and meaning-packed words. No, what you will find is a refreshingly honest glimpse at the beautifully distinctive faces, voices and personalities that make New York City the greatest city in the world.
Article + photos as featured in Whalebone Magazine’s NYC Issue.
