Maybe you have already heard of Humans of New York. Since last autumn, I personally started following the posts in Facebook, but all this time, without realizing the story behind it.
Humans of New York is a blog and bestselling book that started in 2010 by Brandon Stanton. Having lost his job as a bond trader and with little more than a camera, Stanton initially started off the project, as an anthropological experiment, planning to gather 10,000 portraits of New Yorkers and group them on a map of the city. However the project soon evolved, when Stanton started having conversations with his subjects and including small quotes and stories alongside his photographs. The photo blog soon became a massive cultural phenomenon with a huge following through social media (millions of followers on Facebook and Instagram). Stanton himself evolved into an inspiring visual storyteller and humanist, covering many stories from migrants and refugees and trying to raise awareness.
His excellent “Open Letter to Donald Trump” went immediately viral yesterday. Despite trying not to be political, Stanton decided to write a powerful letter criticizing Trump for inciting violence at his rallies and promoting hateful ideologies toward Muslims, refugees and immigrants. Definitely worth reading (you can also find it here).
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