What is Humans of New York?

MANILA, Philippines - Sometimes, there really is nothing quite like the wisdom you get from strangers — people who don’t know you, oftentimes not even your name, and yet find the right words to help you through a difficult time. Perhaps that is where Humans of New York’s mass appeal lies, in its ability to connect people with its no-frills human portraits of complete strangers and their thought-provoking answers to questions we sometimes don’t bother asking anymore.

Humans of New York, or HONY, as it is popularly known, is a photoblog that began in 2010 by 29-year-old photographer Brandon Stanton, who would venture out of his Brooklyn apartment to take photos of people in and out of his borough. Stanton initially just wanted to take portraits, but he began to use the conversations he’d have with his subjects as the captions.

Pretty soon, the captions became just as popular as the photos themselves, with Stanton’s subjects baring personal confessions — from family problems, love affairs, drug addiction — oftentimes with very little words used. Today, HONY has so far collected at least 6,000 portraits and late last year, released the Humans of New York book that went straight to bestseller lists. HONY has inspired almost hundreds of spin-off blogs, two of which are based in Philippine universities — Humans of Katipunan and Humans of Diliman.   — Margarita Buenaventura