Humans of New York#Humans of New York book

Brandon Stanton started his blog in November 2010.{{cite news|last=Maloney|first=Jennifer|title=In Focus: City's Humans|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304811304577370611460259438#articleTabs%3Darticle|access-date=May 1, 2012|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal}}{{cite news |title=Humans of New York: Behind the Lens |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brandon-stanton/humans-of-new-york-behind_b_3210673.html |date=May 3, 2013 |work=The Huffington Post |access-date=May 15, 2013 |first=Brandon |last=Stanton}} Initially, he planned to gather 10,000 portraits of New Yorkers and plot them on a map of the city. The project soon evolved, however, when Stanton started having conversations with his subjects and including small quotes and stories alongside his photographs.{{cite news| title = The photographer behind 'Humans of New York'| url = https://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/18/living/books-humans-of-new-york/| access-date =October 25, 2013|date= October 18, 2013| publisher = CNN}} With this new format, the blog began to grow rapidly. In a matter of months, HONY became so popular that when Stanton accidentally updated his Facebook status with just the letter "Q", his post garnered 73 likes within a minute.{{cite web |title=How Humans of New York Went Viral on Facebook |url=http://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/how-humans-of-new-york-got-nearly-1-million-facebook-likes.html |publisher=Inc |access-date=November 20, 2013}} {{As of|May 2024}}, Humans of New York had more than 17 million likes on its Facebook page.{{cite news|last1=Dumas|first1=Daisy|title=Humans of New York creator Brandon Stanton pens open letter to Donald Trump|url=http://www.smh.com.au/technology/web-culture/humans-of-new-york-creator-brandon-stanton-pens-open-letter-to-donald-trump-20160314-gniyah.html|access-date=15 March 2016|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=15 March 2016}}

In December 2012, Stanton spent two weeks collecting street portraits in Iran. Following the Boston Marathon bombing, Stanton spent the week collecting street portraits in Boston, Massachusetts. During the 2014 SXSW conference, he spent a week in Austin, Texas, where the conference is held, to gather portraits of Texans.

In August 2014, Stanton began a 50-day "World Tour" in partnership with the United Nations collecting portraits and stories in twelve countries: Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ukraine, India, Nepal, Vietnam, and Mexico.{{cite web | title = Humans of New York Photographer Travels to Iraq With the UN |publisher= ABC News | url = https://abcnews.go.com/International/humans-york-photographer-travels-middle-east/story?id=24946214|author=Meghan Keneally|date=August 12, 2014| access-date =August 13, 2014 }}

In August 2015, Stanton traveled to Pakistan for the photoblog.Corinne Abrams and Qasim Nauman, [https://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/08/24/humans-of-new-york-helps-humans-in-pakistan/ Humans of New York Helps Humans in Pakistan] The Wall Street Journal Aug 24, 2015Ramsha Jamal, [https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/aug/21/humans-of-new-york-blog-offers-a-fresh-perspective-on-pakistan Humans of New York blog offers a fresh perspective on Pakistan] The Guardian 21 August 2015 He used his work there to raise awareness of Syeda Ghulam Fatima's efforts to help Pakistani brickworkers that had become bonded laborers.{{Cite web|title = Millions donated to free Pakistan's bonded laborers – CNN| date=August 19, 2015 |url = http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/19/asia/pakistan-humans-new-york-bonded-labor/index.html|publisher = CNN|access-date = 2015-11-12}}

In association with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Stanton went to Europe in 2015 to capture migrants and refugees seeking asylum in Europe from their homelands, most of which are war zones. This resulted in much support, donations, and awareness of the European migrant crisis.{{Cite web|title = Why The Humans Of New York Refugee Coverage Is Such a Punch In The Gut| date=September 29, 2015 |url = https://www.yahoo.com/health/putting-a-human-face-on-the-syrian-refugee-crisis-172736702.html|publisher = Yahoo!|access-date = 2015-11-17}} Stanton stated in a BBC interview that he had to use a new type of interviewing style for these subjects, because he did not think it pertinent to ask about their past or future.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJqaO1HSLf0|title=Humans of New York photographer Brandon Stanton goes global – BBC News|last=BBC News|date=October 20, 2014|access-date=August 26, 2016|via=YouTube}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic Stanton accepted submissions from anyone in the world for the first time, asking his followers for "their most amazing, uplifting stories" to inspire people during the crisis. Giving his reasoning, he said "I think what is helpful are these doses and reminders of normal life, normal happiness, normal joys, normal love."{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Kristyn |title=Coronavirus social distancing rules change how Humans of New York tells stories |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/coronavirus-social-distancing-rules-humans-of-new-york-205759876.html |access-date=20 April 2020 |publisher=Yahoo |date=March 19, 2020}}

Stanton's first book based on the photoblog, also titled Humans of New York, was released in October 2013. Published by St. Martin's Press, the book sold 30,000 copies in preorders alone.{{cite news| title = Human by Human, a Following Grows|work=The Wall Street Journal| url = https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304106704579135783423807744|author= David Shapiro Jr.|date=October 14, 2013|access-date = October 25, 2013}} Stanton was interviewed ahead of release by Bill Weir for an ABC News Nightline story titled "'Humans of New York': Photo Gone Viral".{{cite web| title = 'Humans of New York': Photo Gone Viral |publisher= Video – ABC News| url = https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/humans-york-photog-viral-20550669|date=October 11, 2013|access-date = October 25, 2013}}{{cite web| title = 'Humans of New York' a Photographic Melting Pot of the City |publisher=ABC News| url = https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/humans-york-photographic-melting-pot-city-20563675|date=October 14, 2013| access-date =October 25, 2013}} {{As of|March 2015}}, the book had been on The New York Times Best Seller list for 31 weeks and was the number one Non-Fiction Best Seller for a week in 2013 and again in 2014.{{Cite news |author= Julie Bosman| title = 'Humans of New York', by Brandon Stanton | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/business/media/humans-of-new-york-by-brandon-stanton.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=BU_HON_20131108&_r=0 | work = The New York Times | date = November 6, 2013 | access-date = November 9, 2013 }}{{Cite news | last = Cowles| first = Gregory| title = Best Sellers – The New York Times : Hardcover Nonfiction (November 03, 2013)| url = https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2013-11-03/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html | work = The New York Times | date =November 3, 2013 | access-date = November 9, 2013 }}

In October 2015, Stanton released his second book, Humans of New York: Stories, which focused more on the stories collected in his work. The book debuted in November 2015 at number one on The New York Times Best Sellers Nonfiction List of 2015, and was number one again the following month.New York Times Book Review Best Sellers Nonfiction List dated November 1, 2015

In October of 2020, Stanton published a book titled Humans containing stories and portraits collected from his travels around the world.{{Cite news |last=Egan |first=Elisabeth |date=2020-11-19 |title=Now More Than Ever, Brandon Stanton Makes People Feel Less Alone |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/books/review/brandon-stanton-humans.html |access-date=2025-04-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} It reached #1 on the NYT Bestsellers’ list on October 25^th, 2020.{{Cite news |title=Best Sellers - Books - Oct. 25, 2020 - The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2020/10/25/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

In 2022, in collaboration with Stephanie Johnson, Stanton published the first longform piece of writing based on one of his subjects: Tanqueray. The Washington Post described it as, “A beautiful, sometimes shocking NC-17 story, kept out of the lily-white, upper crust canon of literature―until now.”{{Cite news |last=Stapinksi |first=Helene |date=2022-07-11 |title=Review {{!}} A psychic said Stephanie Johnson’s life would be tough. She was right. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/07/11/tanqueray-humans-stanton/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}

Humans of New York has launched a number of highly successful charitable efforts. Following Hurricane Sandy, Stanton traveled to the hardest-hit neighborhoods in New York City to photograph the residents, volunteers, and first responders who had lived through the destruction. Stanton then partnered with Tumblr founder David Karp to launch an Indiegogo fundraiser for the victims of the storm. With an original goal of {{usd|100,000}}, they raised $86,000 in the first 12 hours and reached a total of $318,530 by the end of the campaign. All of the proceeds went to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a family-run charity that played a major role in the Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.{{cite web|url=http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hony-tumblr-hurricane-sandy-fundraiser|title=HONY & Tumblr Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser |publisher=Indiegogo |access-date=February 28, 2013}}{{Cite news|url=http://observer.com/2012/11/humans-of-new-york-blog-tumblr-indiegogo-hurricane-sandy/|title=Hurricane Relief Goes Viral, With a Little Help From Tumblr and Indiegogo|date=2012-11-12|work=Observer|access-date=2017-02-26|language=en-US}}

In 2013, HONY launched another Indiegogo campaign to help news cameraman Duane Watkins and his wife adopt a child from Ethiopia. The goal of $26,000 and was exceeded in 90 minutes and the campaign raised a total of $83,000. Excess funds went to an educational fund for the adopted boy and his sister.

{{cite news| title = Bringing Richard home, the story of a crowd-funded adoption | url =https://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/01/living/lets-bring-richard-home/ | access-date =January 31, 2014| date = November 1, 2013 | publisher =CNN }}

In 2014, Stanton set up an Indiegogo campaign to send a boy he had photographed and his family on vacation to a ranch in Colorado after learning that the boy's dream was to own a horse.{{cite web|url=http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/let-s-send-rumi-on-a-wild-west-adventure|title=Let's Send Rumi on a Wild West Adventure!|publisher=Indiegogo |access-date=October 29, 2013}} Within 15 minutes of posting the fundraiser on his Facebook page, the $7,000 goal was met and it raised a total of $32,167. After paying for the trip, Stanton donated the remaining $20,000 to the New York Therapeutic Riding Center, an organization that helps provide horse rides to children with disabilities.{{Cite web |date=2013-08-02 |title=LOOK: How One Photographer Made A Kid's Cowboy Dreams Come True |url=https://huffpost.netblogpro.com/entry/brandon-stanton-nyc-wild-west-adventure_n_3695583 |access-date=2022-11-09 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}

File:From Brownsville, Brooklyn to the Oval Office- Vidal Meets the President.webm

In January 2015, Stanton photographed and interviewed a 14-year-old boy from Brownsville, Brooklyn, Vidal Chastanet, who said his greatest influence was his school principal at Mott Hall Bridges Academy, Nadia Lopez. Stanton used Indiegogo to raise over $1,419,509 in donations from 51,476 contributors that provided Mott Hall students opportunities such as college campus visits, summer programs, and a scholarship fund. As a result of the campaign, Stanton, the student, and his principal were invited to visit the White House in 2015.{{cite news |last1=Grinberg |first1=Emmanuella |last2=France |first2=Lisa Respers |last3=Hetter |first3=Katia |date=February 6, 2015 |title=Obama meets boy who inspired $1 million fundraiser |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/06/living/feat-humans-of-new-york-vidal-meets-obama/ |publisher=CNN |access-date=February 8, 2015 }}{{cite web|last1=Schulman|first1=Kori|title=From the Streets of Brownsville, Brooklyn to the Oval Office|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/02/05/streets-brownsville-brooklyn-oval-office|access-date=February 8, 2015|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|date=February 5, 2015}} Later in 2015, Stanton visited Pakistan and Iran for a traveling photography series during the month of August. He concluded the section on Pakistan by highlighting Syeda Ghulam Fatima, the leader of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, an organisation that works to free bonded labourers that were victims of predatory lending practices. Stanton's subsequent Indiegogo fundraiser raised over {{usd|2.3 million}} for the organisation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/let-s-help-fatima-end-bonded-labor|title=Let's Help Fatima End Bonded Labor|website=Generosity|language=en-US|access-date=2017-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313092237/https://www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/let-s-help-fatima-end-bonded-labor|archive-date=March 13, 2018|url-status=dead}}

In May 2016, Stanton shared a series of interviews with pediatric cancer patients at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.{{Cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2016/05/08/humans-of-new-york-creator-turns-lens-to-young-cancer-patients/|title='Humans of New York' creator turns lens to young cancer patients|last=Rosenbaum|first=Sophia|date=2016-05-08|website=New York Post|access-date=2017-02-26}} Following the series, he launched an Indiegogo campaign to support pediatric cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering as well as psychological and social support services for patients and their families.{{Cite web|url=https://www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/let-s-help-dr-o-reilly-fight-pediatric-cancer|title=Let's Help Dr. O'Reilly Fight Pediatric Cancer|website=Generosity|language=en-US|access-date=2017-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313031533/https://www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/let-s-help-dr-o-reilly-fight-pediatric-cancer|archive-date=March 13, 2018|url-status=dead}} In the first three days more than 10,000 people donated over $350,000, and in three weeks the campaign raised over $3.8 million from more than 100,000 people.{{Cite news|url=http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20160520/HEALTH_CARE/160529993/viral-fundraiser-by-humans-of-new-york-raises-3-7-million-for-memorial-sloan-ketterings-pediatric-cancer-efforts|title=Memorial Sloan Kettering is blown away by response to Humans of New York campaign|last=LaMantia|first=Jonathan|work=Crain's New York Business|access-date=2017-02-26}} In August 2016, in a photograph series titled, "Invisible Wounds," Stanton featured interviews with American veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.{{cite web |last1=Stanton |first1=Brandon |title=Humans of New York: Invisible Wounds |url=http://www.humansofnewyork.com/tagged/Invisible-Wounds |website=humansofnewyork.com |access-date=11 January 2019}} The series partnered with the nonprofit, Headstrong Project, to highlight the mental health struggles veterans experience.{{cite news |last1=Lamothe |first1=Dan |title=Humans of New York decided to profile veterans. The response has been overwhelming. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/08/31/humans-of-new-york-decided-to-profile-veterans-the-response-has-been-overwhelming/?noredirect=on |access-date=11 January 2019 |agency=Washington Post |date=August 21, 2016}} An associated fundraising campaign for the non-profit exceeded the $100,000 goal in a few hours and continued to raise more than half a million dollars.{{cite web |last1=Stanton |first1=Brandon |title=Let's Help Headstrong Help Veterans |url=https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/let-s-help-headstrong-help-veterans#/ |website=Indiegogo.com |access-date=11 January 2019}}

Stanton visited Rwanda in September 2018.{{cite web |last1=Stanton |first1=Brandon |title=Feeling Grateful |url=https://www.patreon.com/posts/feeling-grateful-21394901 |website=Patreon |access-date=26 October 2018 |language=en |date=September 13, 2019}} Beginning on October 16, 2018, he began covering the genocide stories on his site through a series of interviews and photos from persons who were affected. On his site, he stated his objective: "During my week in Rwanda, I focused on the stories of people who took a moral stand during the genocide. These are members of the Hutu majority who risked their lives to shield and protect Tutsis. In Rwanda they are known as 'The Rescuers.'"{{cite web |last1=Stanton |first1=Brandon |title=Humans of New York |url=http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/179117463691/on-april-6th-1994-an-airplane-carrying-the |website=Humans of New York |access-date=26 October 2018 |language=en |date=October 16, 2018}} In conjunction with the series, he hosted a GoFundMe campaign to benefit the Gisimba Orphanage in Rwanda and the planned but yet-to-be-built Gisimba House in Uganda. He supplemented the campaign with {{usd|13,000}} from HONY{{'}}s Patreon fund, as well as with {{usd|1}} for every donation beyond the 5,000th donation. The campaign reached its goal of {{usd|200,000}} in 18 hours. Stanton also supported another campaign of the Little Hills organization, which plans build Rwanda's first children's hospital.

During the Pandemic years of 2020-2022, Stanton raised nearly $8 million over 18 months for a variety of NYC-based individuals and small businesses featured on his platform.{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Lisa |date=2022-03-02 |title=How Humans of New York Found a New Mission |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/humans-of-new-york-brandon-stanton.html |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=Intelligencer |language=en}}

In 2013, a fan noticed that HONY{{'}}s photos had been used without permission in DKNY's window display at a store in Bangkok.{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/humans-of-new-york-dkny-photos-hony_n_2759752.html |title=Humans Of New York Photos Accidentally Stolen By DKNY |work=The Huffington Post |date=February 25, 2013|access-date=February 27, 2013 |first=Rebecca |last=Adams}} After learning of the infringement, Stanton publicly asked DKNY to donate {{usd|100,000}} in his name to the YMCA chapter in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of New York City.{{cite news|last=Jalabi |first=Raya |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/us-news-blog/2013/feb/25/dkny-pay-photographer-without-permission |title=DKNY to pay $25,000 after using photographs without permission | guardian.co.uk |work=The Guardian |date=February 25, 2013|access-date=February 26, 2013 |location=London}} The donation request was shared over 40,000 times on Facebook, and after heavy pressure on social media sites, DKNY issued a public apology and agreed to donate {{usd|25,000}}. Stanton used Indiegogo to raise an additional $103,000.{{cite web|author=Humans of New York |url=http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/346367 |title=Let's Send Kids To YMCA Summer Camp |publisher=Indiegogo |date=November 10, 2012 |access-date=February 27, 2013}}

On August 29, 2017, the documentary Humans of New York: The Series, based on the blog, premiered on Facebook Watch as part of that premium content platform's launch. From 2014 to 2017, Stanton interviewed over 1200 New Yorkers on video.{{cite web|last1=Jarvey|first1=Natalie|title='Humans of New York' Docuseries Coming to Facebook (Exclusive)|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/humans-new-york-docuseries-coming-facebook-1032331|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=August 24, 2017 |access-date=4 December 2017|language=en}} Season one included thirteen episodes which ranged from fifteen and twenty-five minutes in length and touched on common themes across the interviews. As of December 2017, it was the most followed series on Facebook Watch.{{cite web|title=Humans of New York: The Series|url=https://www.facebook.com/honytheseries/|website=Humans of New York: The Series Showpage|publisher=Facebook|access-date=15 December 2017}}

• Humans of Bombay

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|www.humansofnewyork.com}}

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