Main thing is just to remember that hard work got me here and only hard work will keep me here. Brandon Stanton More Quotes by Brandon Stanton More Quotes From Brandon Stanton In July of 2010, I lost my finance job in Chicago. Instead of updating my resume and looking for a similar job, I decided to forget about money and have a go at something I truly enjoyed. I'd purchased a semi-professional camera earlier that year and spent my free time taking photos in downtown Chicago. Brandon Stanton looking finance money time I am interviewing people with a spirit of genuine interest and compassion, and therefore, the general tone of the site is one of genuine interest and compassion. The moment that culture changes, 'Humans of New York' is no longer viable. Brandon Stanton i-am moment culture people I've always felt like an artistic person. I can't draw or paint or sculpt. I never really had technical skills, but I've always felt like I appreciate really beautiful things, and part of taking a good photograph is being able to recognize beauty. Brandon Stanton good appreciate beautiful beauty I think everyone feels alone in their sadness, and there's a certain value to hearing other people's sad stories. Brandon Stanton alone sad sadness people I know I have a caption that I'm going to use when somebody tells me something I've never heard before. It's very rarely a thought, a philosophy, when somebody says, 'Oh, I don't like cheese' or 'Oh, I think the government should be overthrown,' because so many people share these thoughts. But what people don't share is stories. Brandon Stanton thoughts me government people Fortunately, I've done so many interviews that I've become very good at detecting when someone is giving a less-than-candid reply. Brandon Stanton reply someone good giving I've done commercial work for Amtrak. However, that was branded as Stanton. I stipulated at the very beginning that it was not going to involve 'Humans of New York,' that I wasn't going to promote it on 'Humans of New York.' So nobody who follows me really even knows that I did it. Brandon Stanton nobody beginning me work 'Humans of New York' did not result from a flash on inspiration. It grew from five years of experimenting, tinkering, and messing up. Brandon Stanton result new inspiration new-york I never know what kind of people I'll meet just by stopping to take a photo. Brandon Stanton meet never know people It's such a different spectrum of tragedies when you talk to people in developing countries. Brandon Stanton talk you different people I don't want to interview people for the purpose of developing a world view and pushing that on people. Brandon Stanton view purpose people world I am a huge fan of biographies. What I'm always looking for is a story. I want a story I have never heard from anyone else. Brandon Stanton i-am looking story never You know you are an artist if you appreciate beauty. Brandon Stanton know you appreciate beauty If I had sat around and waited until I had an idea to be a successful photographer, I would still be in finance. Brandon Stanton still finance photographer successful I struck upon this kind of crazy idea that I was going to go to New York and stop 10,000 people on the streets and take their portrait and create kind of a photographic census of the city. Brandon Stanton city new crazy people It's the rejection that is hard. It's not the interviewing that's hard. It's not the photography that's hard. It's, you know, approaching people all day long and having a good portion of those people reject you and some of them be rude. Brandon Stanton day good you people The interviews have gotten much longer with 'Humans of New York.' When I was first starting, I was just photographing people. And then I went to just kind of including a quote or two. Now when I'm approaching somebody on the street, I'm spending about 30 to 45 minutes with them often. Brandon Stanton street new new-york people I think that even though some of the things on 'Humans of New York' are kind of very personal and very revealing, I think the discomfort with sharing that tends to be overwritten by the appreciation of being able to distill the experience of your life into a story and share it with other people. Brandon Stanton experience appreciation life people At some point during my travels, I had a slight change of focus which would end up defining the rest of my career. I began taking pictures of people. In addition to all the buildings, street signs and fire hydrants, I started photographing some of the interesting humans that passed by me on the street. Brandon Stanton me change fire people Without social media, I'd probably just be a quirky, amateur photographer with a hard drive full of photos. I'd be cold calling respected publications, begging for a feature. Brandon Stanton drive social-media cold media
