It started with a guy who lost his job. In 2010, Brandon Stanton was a bond trader in Chicago who got fired, bought a camera, and headed to New York City with a vague, bordering-on-delusional plan to photograph 10,000 people and plot them on a map. He didn't have a journalism degree. He wasn't a "fine art" photographer. He was just a guy with a Canon 7D and enough curiosity to stop strangers on the sidewalk.
But a funny thing happened. Humans of New York (HONY) didn't become a map. It became a mirror.
How Humans of New York Actually Changed the Internet
Back in the early 2010s, social media was mostly people posting grainy photos of their lunch or poking each other on Facebook. The vibe was curated. It was shallow. Then Stanton started adding captions. At first, they were just short snippets—a quote about a hat or a job. Slowly, they turned into deep-tissue soul-searching.
He found a way to make the most populated city on earth feel like a small town. You’ve probably seen the format a million times now because everyone tries to copy it. A high-quality portrait of someone looking directly at the lens, followed by a block of text that starts in the middle of a story. No "Hello, my name is John." Just: "My biggest regret is..." or "I never told my mother that I..."
It works because it breaks the "stranger danger" barrier.
Honestly, the magic isn't in the camera settings. Stanton has admitted he isn't a technical wizard. The magic is in the "ask." He spends sometimes 30 or 45 minutes talking to one person just to get that one paragraph. He’s looking for the "interrupt." Most of us walk around with a script of who we are. "I'm a lawyer. I'm a mom. I'm tired." Stanton bores through that script until he hits something raw.
The Tanqueray Effect and the Power of the Pivot
If you want to understand why Humans of New York is a cultural juggernaut and not just a photography blog, you have to look at the "Tanqueray" series. In 2020, Stanton met Stephanie Johnson, an elderly woman with a penchant for faux fur and a history as a burlesque dancer.
What followed was a multi-day storytelling event that felt like a Netflix series in real-time.
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It wasn't just "content." It was a fundraiser.
HONY has raised millions. Millions. We’re talking about $4 million for pediatric cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars for a bonded laborer in Pakistan named Syeda Ghulam Fatima. This is where the project shifted from "street photography" to "global humanitarian engine."
It’s easy to be cynical about "slacktivism," but when you see a guy in a green hoodie on a park bench and three days later the internet has raised enough money to send his kids to college, the cynicism kinda melts away.
The Technique: Why You Can’t Just "Do a HONY"
A lot of brands try to mimic the Humans of New York style. They usually fail. Why? Because they’re trying to sell something. Stanton’s superpower is that he isn't trying to sell you the person; he’s trying to let the person reveal themselves.
He uses a very specific set of questions.
- "What is your biggest struggle?"
- "How has your life changed the most in the last year?"
- "What do you feel most guilty about?"
These aren't small talk. They’re "big talk."
And he stays out of the way. If you notice, the captions are almost always in the first person. You don't see Brandon’s voice saying, "I met this interesting man today." You just get the man. This creates an immediate psychological intimacy. You feel like you’re the one standing on the corner of 5th and Broadway.
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Is it still relevant in 2026?
People keep saying long-form is dead. They say TikTok killed our attention spans. But Humans of New York proves that we aren't actually bored; we’re just starved for something real. In an era of AI-generated influencers and deepfakes, a sweaty guy in New York asking a grandma about her first heartbreak feels like an anchor.
There have been criticisms, of course. Some people argue it’s "poverty porn" or that it simplifies complex systemic issues into individual "sob stories." It’s a valid critique. You can’t fix a broken healthcare system with a GoFundMe, even if that GoFundMe raises seven figures. Stanton himself has acknowledged that he’s just a storyteller, not a policy maker. He provides the empathy; the audience provides the action.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Project
Everyone thinks it’s about New York. It’s not.
Stanton has taken Humans of New York to Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, South America, and the UN. He proved that the "New York" part was just the pilot episode. The "Humans" part is the actual show. Whether he's in a village in Rwanda or a penthouse in Manhattan, the themes are identical:
- Fear of failure.
- The desire to be seen.
- The lingering ghost of a parent’s expectations.
- The weird, hilarious coincidences of meeting a partner.
It’s universal. It’s boringly, beautifully universal.
The Business of Empathy
How does a "free" Facebook page become a career? Stanton turned the blog into two #1 New York Times bestsellers. He does speaking engagements. But he’s stayed remarkably "un-corporate." You don't see HONY-branded sneakers or weird crypto schemes. The brand is built on trust. If he loses the trust of the person on the street, the whole thing collapses.
He’s basically built a "trust-based" economy. When he asks his followers to help someone, they do it because they’ve spent a decade watching him treat strangers with dignity.
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Lessons for Content Creators and Humans Alike
If you’re looking to apply the Humans of New York philosophy to your own life or work, stop looking at the camera.
Stop thinking about "engagement metrics."
Focus on the "active listen." Most people are just waiting for their turn to speak. Stanton is waiting for the other person to surprise him. That’s a skill you can use in a job interview, on a first date, or just standing in line at the DMV.
Next Steps for Engaging with HONY:
- Read the Books: If you've only seen the Instagram snippets, get the "Humans" anthology. Seeing the photos in print changes the pacing. It’s less of a scroll and more of an immersion.
- Watch the Facebook Watch Series: There was a short-lived video series that actually showed the interviews happening. It’s a masterclass in how to approach strangers without being creepy.
- Practice the "HONY Question": Next time you’re with a friend, skip the "How’s work?" question. Ask: "What’s one thing you’re currently struggling with that you haven't told anyone?" Watch what happens to the energy in the room.
- Follow the Tangents: The best HONY stories aren't the ones on the main feed; they’re the updates in the comments where people find the subjects and offer jobs, housing, or just a "me too."
The world is loud and crowded. New York is louder and more crowded. But Humans of New York reminds us that everyone is carrying a story that would break your heart or make you laugh until you cry—if you just bothered to ask. It’s not about the photography. It’s about the permission to be human in public.
Go out and look at someone today. Really look at them. You don't need a Canon 7D to see the story.