The University Times

Kayle Crosson | Senior Staff Writer

I, like many social media users, have fallen victim to the magnetism of Humans of New York (HONY), a blog that documents both the miracles and tragedies of the city’s inhabitants. Tales of sorrow, loss, love and achievement are all conveyed through a photograph and a short interview, often prompted by questions such as: what advice would you give to a large group of people? What’s your biggest regret? What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the saddest?

This is what makes Humans of New York so unusually wonderful – you find yourself celebrating and empathizing with the tales of these strangers. Each story is like an instrument in a symphonic movement – each story told with uniquely captivating tones that blend together seamlessly to create an enthralling masterpiece.

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The countries HONY photographer Brandon Stanton has visited are names that the media have equated with murder, disorder, and despair.

Humans of New York then attempted a new angle of presenting the stories of strangers – by conveying the tales of struggle and triumph of people from all corners of the globe. More specifically, HONY travelled in partnership with the United Nations to raise awareness for the Millennial Development Goals. The countries HONY photographer Brandon Stanton has visited are names that the media have equated with murder, disorder, and despair. Unknowingly, we have been conditioned to grimace at the mention of certain nations, and our preconceived ideas of these countries have unjustly marred their inhabitants. HONY’s World Tour has moved past this metaphorical fog of perception and connected us to strangers thousands of miles away.

Instead of being presented as an anonymous news crawl at the bottom of our screens, the victims are profoundly humanized in an unprecedented way.

HONY has documented countries recently and currently ravaged by conflict and social issues, through portraits of a father walking home with his daughter from school in Ukraine to a young couple reviewing the progress of their second date in India. The World Tour documented Iraq and Jordan during the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s (ISIS) siege of Northern Syria and Iraq, and many of the portraits were imbued with despondency, with a caption of one reading: “We left our hopes back in Syria”. One cannot help but empathize with such loss and isolation. Instead of being presented as an anonymous news crawl at the bottom of our screens, the victims are profoundly humanized in an unprecedented way. The tales of raids, sieges, and violence become personalized, the individual experiences of loss form a tragic mosaic.

“He stays always in the Dome of the Rock. Children come to him for blessings. He can’t see, but his mind is perfect. He only has to hear your voice — and he’ll remember your name, your mobile number, and even the anniversary of your mother’s death.” (Jerusalem) Humans of New York

Yet, as harrowing as these accounts and portraits are, we also subconsciously acquire a different type of wisdom: resilience. We learn that the human experience is indeed universal; we all desire love and success despite the circumstances in our own nation. In the midst of the compassion that inevitably stems from HONY, it is just as important to learn that the majority of these strangers overcome their struggles. A woman in the Ukraine who had been sexually abused and then had her arm amputated after a suicide attempt went on to pursue a career of easing other’s pain and anxiety. A young South Sudanese girl who lives in a displaced persons’ camp spoke of her ambition to be a pilot, to be “a leader of the air”. Our sense of empathy is rekindled as we read the tale of an Iraqi man who volunteered his own life to restore the health of her brain. We learn that compassion is congruent with resilience. We learned through the HONY World Tour that whilst different languages and customs may act as barriers, we are essentially all the same.

Humans of New York, especially with its World Tour, reminds of me of a fantastic F. Scott Fitzgerald quote: “That is part of the beauty of literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You Belong.” These portraits do just that – by showing us we not only live in the world we inhabit, but that we also belong.