Walking around the city, taking pictures of strangers and asking them to share deeply personal aspects of their lives sounds like a strange hobby, however, this is one. It sounds more like something that a crazy person would do, but this is what Brandon Stanton does everyday. He runs a blog called Humans of New York (HONY), which has more than 12 million likes on Facebook and thousands of posts. Reading the stories of the people he photographs has always been inspiring, but what he has been doing recently is truly changing lives.
Stanton began HONY in the summer of 2010.
He wrote on his website, “I thought it would be really cool to create an exhaustive catalogue of New York City’s inhabitants.” Anyone who has the slightest idea of what New York is like knows that the inhabitants of this city are some of the most interesting people you can come across. The blog began as just taking pictures of these people but somewhere along the way it became much more. “I started collecting quotes and short stories from the people I met, and began including these snippets alongside the photographs,” he said. Now, HONY provides worldwide audience with small pieces of strangers lives. What’s truly amazing is that Brandon has a knack for finding ordinary people with the most interesting or inspiring stories to tell.
On January 19th, Brandon took a photo of a boy named Vidal. He asked him, “Who influenced you the most in your life?” Vidal replied with something that seemed to strike strangers around the world. He talked about how his principal, Mrs. Lopez, makes sure that every child at his school knows that they are special. When they get in trouble, she thinks of ways to change their direction instead of just punishing them with detention.
A few days later Brandon met with Mrs. Lopez who told him about the schools need for funds so that incoming 6th graders could take a field trip to Harvard. She said they needed to go there so they can know that “they can belong anywhere.” Through HONY, Stanton and Lopez began a fundraiser with the goal of raising 100,000 dollars to fund three years of Harvard field trips. Within hours they had already surpassed their goal. They’ve raised over a million dollars which will now fun 10 Harvard field trips, 10 summer programs and a scholarship fund in honor of Vidal. The impact that this money has had and will have on a community where kids Harvard. She said they needed to go there so they can know that “they can belong anywhere.”
Through HONY, Stanton and Lopez began a fundraiser with the goal of raising 100,000 dollars to fund three years of Harvard field trips. Within hours they had already surpassed their goal. They’ve raised over a million dollars which will now fun 10 Harvard field trips, 10 summer programs and a scholarship fund in honor of Vidal. The impact that this money has had and will have on a community where kids have it rough is immeasurable. All of this happened because of a simple blog and a boy who looked up to his principal. huge effects on populations. Everyone looks for someone to follow and bloggers tend to guide them.
Dorothy Beal runs MilePosts. Her blogs follows her journey to overcome OCD, Oral Allergy Syndrome, and Gilberts Syndrome and become an accomplished runner and blogger. The mother of three has done over 23 races now and uses her blog to inspire people to live a healthier life as well as give them running and eating tips and tricks.
Jonathan Fields runs JonathanFields. His blog covers everything from creative thinking to public speaking. He is always telling his followers about news lines of thinking that will yield more happiness in life. A major part of his blog is The Good Life Project where he shares stories of people living meaningful lives and hopes to inspire his followers to do the same.
The next time you’re looking for inspiration, maybe try looking online. Whether bloggers are inspiring people to help themselves or change the world around them, it is evident that they are definitely making a difference.