Brandon Stanton Quotes & Sayings

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

I've taken pictures in at least 14 countries, and nowhere have people told me 'no' more than New York City. — Brandon Stanton

The great thing about New York is that if you sit in one place long enough, the whole world comes to you. — Brandon Stanton

A lot of the children I photograph are extremely colorfully dressed in some way. But I also find a lot of kids with outsized personalities or who happen to be doing something charming. — Brandon Stanton

Just work. Don't wait. Everybody's waiting until they have the perfect idea to start working. Even if you have an inkling of what you want to do, start moving towards it. And it's going to flesh itself out through the process of moving towards the goal. And by the time you get to where you're going to be, it's not going to look anything like it did when you sat on the couch thinking about it. And if you wait until it's perfect in your head before you get of the couch and start working on it, that's never going to happen. — Brandon Stanton

Each time I arrived in a new city, I'd get lost in the streets and photograph everything that looked interesting, taking nearly a thousand photographs every day. After each day of shooting, I'd select 30 or 40 of my favorite photographs and post them on Facebook. I named the albums after my first impression of each city. — Brandon Stanton

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

I didn't actually begin photographing, or even visit New York, for the first time until I was 26. — Brandon Stanton

New York has the biggest, most eclectic collection of people in the world. — Brandon Stanton

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

I really wanted to take her photo, so I walked up to the nearest adult and asked, 'Does she belong to you?' Suddenly the music stopped, and I heard: 'I belong to myself! — Brandon Stanton

I want to change the world but I don't know how. — Brandon Stanton

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

I don't like to interview people in front of their friends; they clam up. — Brandon Stanton

I used to be a butcher. She used to come into my store. Every week I would set apart the best piece of meat for her. And look how it turned out - I ended up with the best piece of meat of them all. — Brandon Stanton

I'm a feminist. So if a woman and I are going for the last empty seat on the subway, I'm not holding back. — Brandon Stanton

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

I'm not even really attempting to brand myself outside of 'Humans of New York.' I think part of the reason for my success is that I've put my ego aside and said I'm not going to put all of my effort into trying to promote myself. I'm going to try to promote my work and am going to try to promote my project. — Brandon Stanton

When my husband was dying, I said: Moe, how am I supposed to live without you? He told me: take the love you have for me and spread it around. — Brandon Stanton

We're eye doctors."
"What's something about the eye that most people don't realize?"
"The eye doesn't see. The brain sees. The eye just transmits. So what we see isn't only determined by what comes through the eyes. What we see is affected by our memories, our feelings, and by what we've seen before. — Brandon Stanton

Don't wait for perfect. Don't wait for something to be fully formed in your head to start on it. Just start, and then work it out as you go. — Brandon Stanton

If you're a thief, don't complain about being robbed. — Brandon Stanton

Of all the places I've been, India is the one that's on the top of my list to return to. — Brandon Stanton

Jealousy. Depression. Love. They pretty much demonstrate the whole range of human emotion. — Brandon Stanton

People always say be true to yourself. But that's misleading, because there are two selves. There's your short term self, and there's your long term self. And if you're only true to your short term self, your long term self slowly decays. — Brandon Stanton

Wherever I go, I just try to show normal life. If the work helps to dispel stereotypes, it's because I seek not to portray the extremities of a place, but the vast majority of people who are quite normal and are having normal life experiences. — Brandon Stanton

I don't want to interview people for the purpose of developing a world view and pushing that on people. — Brandon Stanton

As an artist in the 21st century, my two goals are to make the best work that I can, improve as much as I can, and to distribute that work as far as I can. — Brandon Stanton

Judging by everyone's excitement, this day will always be remembered at the loading dock as the day 'Larry made it on the internet'. — Brandon Stanton

I never buy plane tickets out of a country until I'm in the country, so I get on the ground, figure out what I need, where I'm going, how much time I need, and schedule as I go along. — Brandon Stanton

I was making projections about 'Humans of New York,' back when I had zero followers, that made all my friends and family roll their eyes. I'd throw out these huge numbers: 'One day, a million people are gonna be looking at this. Trust me.' And even those wild, wild numbers I was throwing out have just been smashed. So, it's a good feeling. — Brandon Stanton

I'm homeless, and I'm an alcoholic. But I have a dream.'
'What's that?'
'I wanna go fishing. — Brandon Stanton

I never know what kind of people I'll meet just by stopping to take a photo. — Brandon Stanton

There are two books in America: one for the poor and one for the rich. The poor person does a crime and gets forty years. A rich person gets a slap on the wrist for the same crime. — Brandon Stanton

Just because you're an adult doesn't mean you're grown up. Growing up means being patient, holding your temper, cutting out the self-pity, and quitting with the righteous indignation.'
'Why do so many people seem to love righteous indignation?'
'Because if you can prove you're a victim, all rules are off. You can lash out at people. You don't have to be accountable for anything. — Brandon Stanton

I've got 50,000 Facebook fans inside of Iran, and Facebook is banned in Iran. I think the people who follow 'Humans of New York' the most after New York City is Tehran. I have a really special affection for the Persian people because they've really taken to my work. — Brandon Stanton

It's a good poem if I'm a different person when I'm finished reading it. — Brandon Stanton

Interviewing someone is a very proactive process and requires taking a lot of agency into your own hands to get past people's general normal self-preservation mode. — Brandon Stanton

In some neighborhoods, faces mature faster than bodies. — Brandon Stanton

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

It seems that everywhere I go, people want the same things - security, education, family. It's just that so many people have no avenues through which to obtain these things. — Brandon Stanton

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

Everybody asks, 'What does 'Humans of New York' mean?' and I always say that I try to avoid putting any kind of message in the work even if it is a positive or optimistic message. The moment you do that, you're looking for certain people and words that fit into the world view you are trying to show, and it becomes preachy. — Brandon Stanton

In an age of iPhones and Playstations, it's great to see that somebody's still rocking the bus-on-a-string. — Brandon Stanton

The more times I fall in love, the less sure I am about love. — Brandon Stanton

Shes's always been very accepting and patient with my trust issues. I've always had a hard time getting close. But no matter how many times I doubted, she just kept saying: 'I'm not going anywhere. — Brandon Stanton

The camera adds a certain sheen to things. Something about being frozen in time really makes things sparkle. — Brandon Stanton

When you are interviewing refugees, each person you talk to has a different story that could come from a horror movie. So many people talk about seeing their families get murdered before their eyes. Then I go to Central Park, and people are talking about their third divorce and paying tuition. — Brandon Stanton

I'm a believer in the ordinary person, that the ordinary person is just as important and has an equally unique perspective on the world as someone who is famous or perhaps more privileged. — Brandon Stanton

My two biggest lessons learned as a trader are take risks and get comfortable with taking losses and setbacks to help move you forward. — Brandon Stanton

There are so many people that use 'following your dreams' as an excuse to not work. When in reality, following your dreams, successfully, is nothing but work. — 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

The sadness is under the thoughts. It's like when you're on a camping trip, and it's really cold, and you put on extra socks and an extra sweater, but you still can't get warm, because the coldness is in your bones. — Brandon Stanton

When I first started 'Humans of New York,' I was writing short stories. There were about 50 of them. And, you know, they were a great part of the site, but the photography just started growing so fast that I didn't have time to make them anymore. — Brandon Stanton

I get way too sensitive when I get attached to someone. I can detect the slightest change in the tone of their voice, and suddenly I'm spending all day trying to figure out what I did wrong. — Brandon Stanton

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

It's such a different spectrum of tragedies when you talk to people in developing countries. — Brandon Stanton

Being a doctor, lawyer in war-torn countries isn't easy when the infrastructure isn't there. The money, the food and education is not always accessible to achieve those dreams. — Brandon Stanton

Anyone who has a two hundred-plus IQ runs the risk of just hanging out because you get too involved in your own thoughts and you just want to sit there and think about . — Brandon Stanton

Whenever you get a large body of work like 'Humans of New York,' a natural pathway becomes to put it between two covers. I wanted this to be a very nice keepsake. A lot of work went into it, and a lot of fans are attached to it. — Brandon Stanton

The amplitudes of life get smaller as you age. There are less and less things to experience for the first time. And each time you experience something, you don't get quite as excited. But you don't get quite as hurt, either. I wonder what it will feel like when I'm seventy ... — Brandon Stanton

'Humans of New York' wasn't the result of a fully finished idea that I thought of and then executed; it was an evolution. There were hundreds of tiny evolutions that came from me loving photography. — Brandon Stanton

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

My interviews are very pointed. I'm an active participant; I will kindly interrupt people. But I've learned there is nothing people won't tell you if you ask in a compassionate and legitimately interested way. — Brandon Stanton

'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

I'm having trouble dealing with society."
"What aspect of society?"
"The whole thing. — Brandon Stanton

It might be a cultural thing, but I was always scolded for showing emotion. Sadness was always met with anger. — Brandon Stanton

I've learned that every feeling will pass if you give it time. And if you learn to deal with your feelings, they'll pass by faster each time. So don't rush to cover them up by medicating them. You've got to deal with them. — Brandon Stanton

So what I am always looking for is, I'm always looking for something that that person has told me that nobody else has told me. It is normally not an opinion, and it is normally not a philosophy. It's almost always a story. Because we all share similar philosophies, we all share similar opinions on a lot of different issues, but all of our stories are our own. — Brandon Stanton

Social media is a superimposing place where people are usually bragging. — Brandon Stanton

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

I'm trying to write a book based on myself, but i keep changing. — Brandon Stanton

The only things I make money on are speeches and books. — Brandon Stanton

I don't think there's any better education than learning the intimate details of the lives of people who you most admire. — Brandon Stanton

She had the most beautiful awkwardness — Brandon Stanton

It seems that a lot of people my age try to be interesting by having problems or starting conflicts. I'd rather be interesting because I created something beautiful. — Brandon Stanton

I remember taking an anthropology class in college and the professor was explaining that there is little 'sexual dimorphism' in humans. He meant that there are few outward, observable differences between makes and females. At the time I was confused, so I raised my hand. 'I feel like it's very easy to tell men and women apart,' I said.
'That's due to culture,' he answered. — Brandon Stanton

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

It's a very immersive and intense form of travel to walk around with an interpreter and stop random people on the street and ask them about their lives. — Brandon Stanton

I think everyone feels alone in their sadness, and there's a certain value to hearing other people's sad stories. — Brandon Stanton

To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world. — Brandon Stanton

Recently we received an invitation that proved just that. — Brandon Stanton

The media chooses to portray the most extreme and violent aspects of a place. I do the opposite and portray the normality. — Brandon Stanton

HONY is one of the only things keeping people from getting lost in the matrix. — Brandon Stanton

Main thing is just to remember that hard work got me here and only hard work will keep me here. — Brandon Stanton

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

You know you are an artist if you appreciate beauty. — Brandon Stanton

'Humans of New York' is basically somebody walking up to absolute strangers on the street every day and, within minutes, talking with them about very personal things. Some things they haven't even told their best friends or family members. — Brandon Stanton

I have a lot of mental illness right now. Half of my energy goes into taking care of myself. I've been daydreaming about shaving my head fully 'cause then I'll look as sick as I feel. — Brandon Stanton

The most pivotal moments in people's lives revolve around emotions. Emotions make stories powerful. — Brandon Stanton

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

Every time I force myself to go outside something wonderful happens (Humans of New York photographed subject) — Brandon Stanton

When I meet somebody in the street who knows about 'Humans of New York,' a lot of times they might have a scripted answer, and that scripted answer is the first thing to come out of their mouth. — Brandon Stanton

Sometimes it's hard not to fall in love with your friends. — Brandon Stanton

Somebody's willingness to let me photograph them, and willingness to tell me a story, has nothing to do with the words I say. It all has to do with the energy I'm giving off, which hopefully is very genuine, very interested energy. It's just two people having a conversation in the street. I think that's where genuine content comes from. — Brandon Stanton

I always say that my favorite people to interview are the people who are at the beginning and the ends of their lives because they have two alternate perspectives of the world, and neither of them are less profound. — Brandon Stanton

I think it's important to try to get on a kid's level when taking their photo. — Brandon Stanton