Since 2010, Brandon Stanton has been pulling the heartstrings of people around the world with his blog, Humans of New York (HONY). The blog takes a quick, deep look into people's lives and is accompanied by a portrait of the subject. If you haven't heard of HONY, you're truly missing out.

The Beginning

Originally, Stanton intended to collect 10,000 portraits of people, as he walked around New York City, and plot them on a map. After he started having conversations with the people he took photos of, his project evolved into something that reached to the core of what it means to be human. With these conversations happening, Stanton started to include short quotes with the portraits and HONY grew quickly through social media. In 2012, Stanton took his blog abroad and has now included people from more than 20 different countries along with people from all around the United States.

The Stories

HONY is so loved throughout the world because Stanton has found a way to reach deep into people's lives and identities. The personal quality of the blog touches something so human and personal that we all feel that we can relate. Stanton has taken an art project and turned it into a force that brings humans around the world together. He has found a way to document humanity and show that individual experiences, love, trauma, and life, are all relatable, no matter what culture a person is from.

The stories touch on all aspects of human life. Stanton has documented people living in poverty, war, and peace. He has documented people's love stories and breakup stories. People tell Stanton about their loneliness, losing a parent, or being saved by an adoptive family. He has shared stories of hunger, hope, and recognizing dreams come true or an individual's deepest failures.

The Future

The world is currently caught in a tumultuous time. We're battling a world-wide pandemic, climate change, and a sitting U.S. President who has stoked the fires of divisiveness. HONY has taken to the streets during this time to find what stirs people into action or what keeps them frozen in inaction. The blog has been able to dig deep into the human core and to highlight how we are all the same. We need HONY to remind us why we are here, why we feel, and to give us the strength to keep going, keep fighting.

Stanton has released two books full of his portraits and stories. Humans of New York and Humans of New York: Stories. Both books landed on the New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller List. You don't, however, need to buy a book to experience Stanton's interviews and portraits. You can follow HONY on Facebook and get a daily heart-warming, sometimes heart-wrenching, story in your news feed.

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