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Brandon Stanton Quotes

Powerful Brandon Stanton for Daily Growth

'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

Thought, New, Idea, Executed

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

Famous, More, Equally, Believer

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

Interviewing, Refugees, Horror Movie

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

Show, Seek, Vast Majority, Normal Life

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

Tell, Very, Participant, Pointed

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

Focus, Career, Some, Defining

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

New, Streets, Going, Photographic

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

Begging, Social, Amateur, Publications

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

Commercial, Very, However, Branded

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

One Day, Been, Smashed, Good Feeling

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

Beginning, Always, Lives, Interview

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

- Brandon Stanton

Purpose, World, View, Interview

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

- Brandon Stanton

Like, Front, Up, Interview

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

Idea, Still, Sat, Waited

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

- Brandon Stanton

Violent, Most, Aspects, Normality

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

Some, Other, Very, Discomfort

'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

New, Messing, Tinkering, Flash

'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

Every Day, Some, Very, Personal Things

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

Work, Best, Artist, Goals

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

City, New York City, I Think, Banned

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

Year, About, Photos, Updating

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

- Brandon Stanton

Never, Meet, Take, Stopping

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

- Brandon Stanton

Bragging, Social, Where, Social Media

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

Very, About, Lives, Interpreter

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

Doing, Happen, Some, Personalities

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

New, Tone, Interviewing, Viable

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

Tell, I Think, Very, Conversation

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

Forward, Move, Learned, Lessons

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

- Brandon Stanton

New York, New, Actually, Visit

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

Reason, I Think, Part, Brand

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