What do you do when you get laid off from your job at 26? Well Brandon Stanton decided to take his camera to the streets on New York City to capture everyday people that often get overlooked.
In a recent Mashable article, Stanton admits he remembers coming to New York City and his "first impression was all the people..." He has talked with over 10,000 people and has taken their photographs since 2010 simply because that’s what he enjoyed doing after he lost his job. What he never expected was the reaction all of his photos and stories would bring or the dedicated community of fans he would develop.
When the photographer created his webpage Humans of New York (HONY) in 2010 he never imagined what type of community he would be creating. After creating the HONY Facebook page, it has now grown to nearly 1.5 million fans and increases daily. He also has over 33,000 followers on Twitter and regularly receives thousands of notes on pictures he posts to his Tumblr page.
Through social media, Stanton has been able to reach out to more people and spread his work to people from all different parts of the world. As a result of his popularity, Scranton has recently released his first published book on Oct. 15 of this year.
His fast growing website and popularity on social media accounts have turned, what seemed to be just an enjoyable hobby, into a movement and meaningful career for Brandon Scranton.
I actually just learned about this guy in one of my english classes earlier this week. I think it's really neat what he's doing; it's a pleasant reminder that everyone has a story, regardless of one's socioeconomic status. It's refreshing, especially because we live in a world where it is so easy to feel alienated from one another.
ReplyDelete