Humans of New York
A photo and storytelling project that shares portraits and interviews of ordinary people in New York and beyond.
Where Humans of New York comes up1 episode or test
Humans of New York grew from a plan to photograph 10,000 people into long interview stories, including a 33-part post and a 54-part story, each part fitting a 2,200-character social limit. Stanton kept his name out of it for years. The lesson: find each person's struggle and clear want, ask pointed follow-ups, and cut generalities until only that person could have said it.
- 1Interview with no notesFollow what makes you lean in
- 2Transcribe about 20 pagesOne long conversation per subject
- 3Cut one illustrative momentKeep the struggle and the want
- 4Fit 2,200 charactersSocial media limit, so it reaches people
- 5Post as storySome ran 33 or 54 parts
From Brandon Stanton interview
What was said about Humans of New York
1From street portraits to long-form stories on social media
Humans of New York grew from a photo census into an interview project. Brandon Stanton's original plan was to photograph 10,000 people and recreate the city through them. Each year the work moved further from photography toward transcribed quotes, then long interviews about deep themes and arcs.
It started just before social media took off, when he was trying to build a blog. His measure was never followers or money, only enough income to photograph all day. Over time he cared less about striking-looking characters and more about drawing deep stories out of inconspicuous people.
Each story is carved from a long interview to fit 2,200 characters. Stanton leaves an interview with a transcript of about 20 pages, then cuts out one illustrative moment that fits a 2,200-character social media limit so it can reach people.
He pushed that format too: one woman's planned one-part story became months of interviews and ran as 33 Instagram posts over a week, which millions read start to finish, and another story ran to 54 parts. He avoids the word "content" because he values impact and transformation.
Stanton kept his own name out so readers hear the subject. He found the art got better the less of him was in it, so he deliberately stayed anonymous and acted as a channel rather than a source. For years people did not know his name and asked how to get a job at Humans of New York.
He places himself at the opposite end of the scale from Hunter S. Thompson. He admits the stories still carry a touch of autobiography in what he chooses to dig into. Quote: "the more that I was a channel and less of a source."
2How Stanton interviews strangers
- 1Offer to skip questionsAlmost nobody uses the option
- 2Hear business card versionCliches, discomfort, nervous laughter
- 3Follow the heatAsk along what makes you lean in
- 4Probe their contradictionsReach a deeper synthesis
- 5Capture candorReal photos taken once truth appears
From Brandon Stanton interview
Go in with no notes and follow what makes you lean in. Stanton prepares nothing and listens for the moment he thinks "wait, that happened?". He treats that reaction as a proxy for the reader and asks his next questions along that line.
After about 10,000 interviews, hearing something he has not heard before is his sign it is going well. Quote: "I just call it following the heat."
Offering to skip any question makes people open up more. He opens every interview with "Anything you don't want to answer, you don't have to answer." Almost nobody uses the option, because a partner eager to understand them pulls the story out.
Journalists who followed him interviewed the same people right afterward, and he saw a remarkable shift in energy. The journalist arrives with a motive and a list of questions to fill an article half written in their head; Stanton only wants to understand what it is like to be this person.
The truth comes only after the polished persona wears off. People open with a "business card version" of themselves, with discomfort, cliches and nervous laughter. Sustained attention and follow-ups reach things they have never been asked to think about, and it comes slowly, "one spoonful at a time".
The more public the person, the harder this is: politicians and celebrities defend their image hardest. He takes one posed photo first and gets the real shots during the conversation, once candor appears. Quote: "Interviews rarely begin with truth."
Ask people to explain their own contradictions. If someone says their mother was horrible and 15 minutes later tells a story of her compassion, Stanton asks how that fits. The aim is a new synthesis deeper than the story off the tip of the tongue.
People keep curated mantras as armor, and he notes we keep about 300 memories, often ones supporting the idea that we are good. Some call him intense; he thinks taking people deadly seriously honors them.
The insecure subject usually beats the confident one. Stanton prefers someone who thinks they have nothing to say, because they have not built a false version of themselves. Bad interviews are people with a lot to say, none of it deeply earned.
He cites a man's account of bottoming out in a park at 24 as a deeply earned truth. Quote: "everyone has something to say if they'll tell the truth."
Write the story with your questions while the source is present. Once he sees a strong plot and arc, Stanton asks for description: what they were wearing, what they looked like at the time.
He built the habit by reviewing what people said after many interviews and noticing what he should have asked. Quote: "almost I'm writing the story with the questions."
3What makes a Humans of New York story land
Find the person's struggle and the plot follows. A struggle gives a plot because the person pushed against something, transformation because years of it change them, and wisdom because it is what they have thought about most.
The most common long story he hears is someone getting sober. Quote: "if you can find somebody's struggle, you will find a plot."
Give the character a clear want before anything else. From Aaron Sorkin, Stanton took the idea that plot is the clothesline and exposition, character and poetic touches are the clothespins. A character who wants something and is disappointed several times gives the reader momentum.
The want can be small, like a first girlfriend or a good dinner. He applies this to the 12 to 14 longer stories; short single quotes do not need a plot.
Cut cliches until only this person could have said it. Cliches and generalities put a person in a pool of others and protect them from exposure. The best subjects combine a singular story with a singular voice.
A burlesque dancer from the 1970s who stopped him in Chelsea showed her whole voice in about ten words: "I was the only black girl making white girl money." He also points to Forrest Gump, whose way of processing the world is more vivid than what happens to him.
4Daily output over inspiration
Stanton built the craft by showing up every day for years. After flunking out of college he rooted his identity in how much work he did: 100 pages of reading a day, then 30 to 40 photographs a day, then four interviews a day for years without missing one.
The prologue of Dear New York went through 180 drafts, and he says he never gets bolts of inspiration. Quote: "the one thing that you can be proud of without ego is the amount of work that you do"
How to Write Powerful Stories — Brandon Stanton
Grew from a plan to photograph 10,000 people into long interview stories, including a 33-part post and a 54-part story. Stanton deliberately kept his name out of it, and each story fits a 2,200-character limit for social media.
Humans of New York grew from a photo census into an interview project. Brandon Stanton's original plan was to photograph 10,000 people and recreate the city through them. Each year the work moved further from photography toward transcribed quotes, then long interviews about deep themes and arcs.
It started just before social media took off, when he was trying to build a blog. His measure was never followers or money, only enough income to photograph all day. Over time he cared less about striking-looking characters and more about drawing deep stories out of inconspicuous people.
Each story is carved from a long interview to fit 2,200 characters. Stanton leaves an interview with a transcript of about 20 pages, then cuts out one illustrative moment that fits a 2,200-character social media limit so it can reach people.
He pushed that format too: one woman's planned one-part story became months of interviews and ran as 33 Instagram posts over a week, which millions read start to finish, and another story ran to 54 parts. He avoids the word "content" because he values impact and transformation.
Stanton kept his own name out so readers hear the subject. He found the art got better the less of him was in it, so he deliberately stayed anonymous and acted as a channel rather than a source. For years people did not know his name and asked how to get a job at Humans of New York.
He places himself at the opposite end of the scale from Hunter S. Thompson. He admits the stories still carry a touch of autobiography in what he chooses to dig into. Quote: "the more that I was a channel and less of a source."
Go in with no notes and follow what makes you lean in. Stanton prepares nothing and listens for the moment he thinks "wait, that happened?". He treats that reaction as a proxy for the reader and asks his next questions along that line.
After about 10,000 interviews, hearing something he has not heard before is his sign it is going well. Quote: "I just call it following the heat."
Offering to skip any question makes people open up more. He opens every interview with "Anything you don't want to answer, you don't have to answer." Almost nobody uses the option, because a partner eager to understand them pulls the story out.
Journalists who followed him interviewed the same people right afterward, and he saw a remarkable shift in energy. The journalist arrives with a motive and a list of questions to fill an article half written in their head; Stanton only wants to understand what it is like to be this person.
The truth comes only after the polished persona wears off. People open with a "business card version" of themselves, with discomfort, cliches and nervous laughter. Sustained attention and follow-ups reach things they have never been asked to think about, and it comes slowly, "one spoonful at a time".
The more public the person, the harder this is: politicians and celebrities defend their image hardest. He takes one posed photo first and gets the real shots during the conversation, once candor appears. Quote: "Interviews rarely begin with truth."
Ask people to explain their own contradictions. If someone says their mother was horrible and 15 minutes later tells a story of her compassion, Stanton asks how that fits. The aim is a new synthesis deeper than the story off the tip of the tongue.
People keep curated mantras as armor, and he notes we keep about 300 memories, often ones supporting the idea that we are good. Some call him intense; he thinks taking people deadly seriously honors them.
The insecure subject usually beats the confident one. Stanton prefers someone who thinks they have nothing to say, because they have not built a false version of themselves. Bad interviews are people with a lot to say, none of it deeply earned.
He cites a man's account of bottoming out in a park at 24 as a deeply earned truth. Quote: "everyone has something to say if they'll tell the truth."
Write the story with your questions while the source is present. Once he sees a strong plot and arc, Stanton asks for description: what they were wearing, what they looked like at the time.
He built the habit by reviewing what people said after many interviews and noticing what he should have asked. Quote: "almost I'm writing the story with the questions."
Find the person's struggle and the plot follows. A struggle gives a plot because the person pushed against something, transformation because years of it change them, and wisdom because it is what they have thought about most.
The most common long story he hears is someone getting sober. Quote: "if you can find somebody's struggle, you will find a plot."
Give the character a clear want before anything else. From Aaron Sorkin, Stanton took the idea that plot is the clothesline and exposition, character and poetic touches are the clothespins. A character who wants something and is disappointed several times gives the reader momentum.
The want can be small, like a first girlfriend or a good dinner. He applies this to the 12 to 14 longer stories; short single quotes do not need a plot.
Cut cliches until only this person could have said it. Cliches and generalities put a person in a pool of others and protect them from exposure. The best subjects combine a singular story with a singular voice.
A burlesque dancer from the 1970s who stopped him in Chelsea showed her whole voice in about ten words: "I was the only black girl making white girl money." He also points to Forrest Gump, whose way of processing the world is more vivid than what happens to him.
Stanton built the craft by showing up every day for years. After flunking out of college he rooted his identity in how much work he did: 100 pages of reading a day, then 30 to 40 photographs a day, then four interviews a day for years without missing one.
The prologue of Dear New York went through 180 drafts, and he says he never gets bolts of inspiration. Quote: "the one thing that you can be proud of without ego is the amount of work that you do"
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