Supposedly, everybody gets fifteen minutes of fame. Two of my fifteen minutes took place in a summer camp in front of four hundred teenagers when I won a rock paper scissors contest. That was pretty cool, but I am glad that I have thirteen more minutes left in the limelight. I plan on using them wisely, like for eating the most vegetarian gummy bears in one sitting. I can live with that being my second and last claim to fame.
Some people get more than fifteen minutes of fame. Safyre Terry became famous when her aunt posted a plea on her Facebook page asking for Christmas cards and she got over one million. Safyre still receives hundreds of positive comments on her Facebook page and continues to use her following for fundraising. “Shoes” by Liam Kyle Sullivan came out ten years ago and launched the concept of viral videos. And of course, there is Humans of New York.
Humans of New York or HONY is a blog by Brandon Stanton. The blog started in 2010 as an art project in which the intent was to photograph 10,000 New Yorkers, and then to catalog their photos and their stories. HONY has captured images of people all over the world, New York just being its base.
The popularity of Humans of New York does not surprise me, as it is a unique and well-constructed blog. What surprises me about this blog is how Brandon Stanton reacted to his blog’s popularity. Rather than bask in his fame and try to do something that he knows nothing about (like singing), Stanton continued to do what he did best.
More importantly, he used his fame to give a voice to those who don’t have one. During the recent debate about refugees, Stanton did a series titled “Refugee Stories” where he took pictures of refugees and told their stories. This could easily be the first time that these people got the chance to tell their story and also the last.
Even for the most compassionate people, sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the numbers. The words “thousands” and “millions” can sound incomprehensible or unfamiliar. But when you see a picture of a family or a picture of a woman crying over her husband who drowned on their journey, it is suddenly much harder to dehumanize these people, and their struggles become at least a little more real.
HONY did another photo series, “Inmate Stories,” where he took photos of prison inmates and featured their stories. Again, it’s easy for the public to stereotype inmates and to dehumanize them, but Brandon Stanton gave them their humanity back, just by taking a photograph.
What makes Humans of New York such an incredible blog is that Stanton used his fame to give a voice to those who likely would never get one. He shed light on issues that otherwise would continue to be hidden from the public. An art project blossomed into an exhibit of social action and the kindness of the human spirit. Rather than fame taking a turn for the worse, fame took a turn for the better, for everyone.
