Elena Munk's Blog ASTU 100

The Humans of New York project started by photographer Brandon Stanton has ballooned into somewhat of a phenomenon acquiring about 18 million Facebook likes and produced two books (Stanton “About”), not to mention it has inspired similar projects even here at UBC and Vancouver (links here: https://www.facebook.com/humansofUBC/ and https://www.facebook.com/humansof604/). He even takes his project beyond New York and travels to different countries and documents people and their stories there. As his reasoning for these projects is not displayed on the website, it is interesting to explore his purpose and intent. Also how he as an ‘outsider’, tells the story of the people he photographs, while the photos are intriguing, I will focus on the writings accompanied with them.

When Stanton travels to other countries does he change his technique in questioning or sharing stories compared to what he does in New York? Is he correctly portraying people’s culture or is sharing culture even his intent? Schaffer and Smith discuss how “stories coming from local sites around the world…may lose their local specificity and resonance in translation” (Schaffer and Smith 11), does Stanton practice this?. Although Stanton is not translating entire books and it is possible that all the people he photographs also speak English, he still has a role in representing and conveying the stories of others from a culture different from his and his typical audience. The only way to really see how and what Stanton is trying to do, is by examining photos (and therefore stories) from the pages of New York and different countries.

Based upon the pictures I have seen from the Mexico photo gallery the stories do not seem to focus on the culture with only one picture having anything written in Spanish  and only one picture mentions Mexico by name, the rest are personal or vague stories (Stanton “Mexico”, photo links: http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/98891134856/we-lived-in-different-cities-when-we-first-met, http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/98472350856/ive-worked-to-eradicate-malaria-my-entire-life). In Uganda, however, there are a few stories that share how there is a lack of wealth in the country (Stanton “Uganda”). One person shares a story about rowing and how competing with European countries is hard because they are have better access to boats  (link: http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/96215594381/i-row-16-kilometers-per-day-a-few-weeks-ago-i), while another describes how some days her family would go without food, but her mother would distract them (link: http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/96022345441/they-sometimes-ask-me-about-their-grandmother). Despite a few differences, most stories from each country focus on romance, hopes and dreams for the future and an important aspect of someone’s past. I did notice however that the stories from other countries were quite a bit shorter than those from New York, often being only one sentence to about five, whereas in New York the stories were at least a paragraph long (Stanton “Latest Stories”, “Mexico”, “Uganda”). Overall, despite small differences, it could be argued that Stanton, in traveling is trying to show that even though places seem far away, the people are similar to those in New York, they have the same struggles and concerns. This is Stanton’s role as a collaborator, to appeal to a wider audience (Douglas 54-55), but in the process while showing the human experience as mostly universal he ignores particular cultural aspects. Only in the Uganda are there a couple of stories that share how there is inequality, but are not shaped in a way unlike the stories from New York. Similar to what Schaffer and Smith discuss about the work of human rights narratives, in trying to appeal to the globe, stories and their meanings are often edited, changed, and framed, but while Stanton takes direct quotes he chooses what pictures and stories make the cut (Schaffer and Smith 10-15). As well, with his success and increasing globalization, it seems natural that Stanton would want to find new ways to entertain his readers and prove that people are the same wherever one goes. This brief look is very limited however, as I have only compared Stanton’s work in New York with that of two other countries and perhaps his style of questioning changes with time over both New York and around the world. A few points appear to be clear though, his audience is the United States and the West (his original fan base), and the stories he shares revolve around poverty, family, and relationships.

Works Cited:

Douglas, Kate. “Lost and found: The Life Narratives of Child Asylum Seekers.” Life Writing, vol. 3, no. 1, 2006., pp. 41-59. doi:10.1080/10408340308518304.

Schaffer, Kay and Sidonie Smith. “Conjunctions: Life Narratives in the Field of Human Rights”. University of Hawai’i Press. 2004. PDF.

Stanton, Brandon. “About”. Humans of New York. http://www.humansofnewyork.com/about

Stanton, Brandon. Humans of New York. http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/96215594381/i-row-16-kilometers-per-day-a-few-weeks-ago-i

Stanton, Brandon. Humans of New York. http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/98472350856/ive-worked-to-eradicate-malaria-my-entire-life

Stanton Brandon. Humans of New York. http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/96022345441/they-sometimes-ask-me-about-their-grandmother

Stanton, Brandon. Humans of New York. http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/98891134856/we-lived-in-different-cities-when-we-first-met

Stanton, Brandon. “Latest Stories”. Humans of New York. http://www.humansofnewyork.com/

Stanton, Brandon. “Mexico”. Humans of New York. http://www.humansofnewyork.com/tagged/mexico

Stanton, Brandon. “Uganda”. Humans of New York. http://www.humansofnewyork.com/tagged/uganda