Humans of New York: Inspiring Stories

By Carelyn Tiburcio on January 16, 2016

My sister usually tags me in really funny things on Instagram. I’d get at least 15 notifications from her per week saying that she’s tagged me. Those tags are usually from comedy pages, so I don’t spend much time scrolling and double tapping through those pages.

I was shocked on day in which she tagged me in a random picture of a man with a pretty long caption underneath. It was a quote from the man talking about how he had fallen in love with his girlfriend and how she just left him out of nowhere. He was devastated, yet he continued to live his life. I began to look through the page, which had pictures of random people as well. Some were teenagers, some were toddlers, and some adults. I began to read some captions and quickly became engaged and fascinated by what they had to say. This page was called Humans of New York.

Humans of New York (HONY) was created by Brandon Stanton, a photographer and blogger. Brandon moved to New York after losing his job in Chicago. He began to take pictures of random people on the streets of New York. He’d ask them questions or told them to say something random and then he’d post a picture with their sayings as the caption. His mom wasn’t so fond of his new job but HONY went to a completely different level.

What started out as a Tumblr blog branched out to different social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook. HONY is a bestselling book as well. Humans of New York also went to Turkey to capture the stories of people. One particular story of a man named Dr. Hamo caught the attention of President Barack Obama. Dr. Hamo lost many people from his family, including his wife, during an explosion in a building he built himself. He lost everything, including his job. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer and had no source of income to pay for treatment. Ever since his story became published on HONY, people have offered to fundraise for him. He was even invited to the White House where he met President Obama.

I follow Humans of New York on Instagram because it inspires me. It’s so interesting to know about the lives of different people. Everyone has a story to tell. People have gone through so much and it’s so inspiring to hear about them. HONY has opened my eyes to the issues people go through as well. By reading through the page, I become more appreciative. HONY has also taught me to talk to more people because you never know what interesting stories they have to share.

So check out Humans of New York and you’ll see how inspiring it can be.

http://www.humansofnewyork.com

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