One of my favourite things to do is meeting new people and hearing their stories. I enjoy understanding their backgrounds or getting to know their sense of humour. This trait is probably the reason I enjoy the Humans of New York blog created by Brandon Stanton. For those of you who don’t know, HONY is a blog devoted to cataloging portraits of people and archiving their stories.

Stanton recently did an instalment of photographs taken of immigrants who are seeking refuge in Europe, many coming from the Middle East and Greece. The photographs that were taken are some of the most moving material I have seen on the internet. It is impossible not to feel profound sympathy for these people who have gone through shocking horrors. One post that stood out to me is a woman who lost her husband at sea when the escape boat they were on capsized -his body was never found. Unfortunately, due to the incredible amount of illegal activity associated with the migration of refugees, there are as many horror stories about the journey to flee as there are stories about the places they fled. Stanton also spent a lot of time in Iran, but those pictures capture a more mundane, quirky, every day aspect of Iranian peoples lives, which I think was his intention. I believe he is trying to show that the Iranian people are just normal people and the prejudice placed upon them by the west is unjustified.

Stanton’s blog works with the idea of identifying people, making broad perceptions on an issue into a personal story- something that is easier to understand. These little chunks can either be amusing (if its a funny joke) or help people understand the scope of a crisis, like the work he did with immigrants. In fact, one of the main things Stanton kept pushing for in the blog posts he did from Europe was the support of an organization called The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The UNHCR is an activist group that provides aid for people in need. While they have a focus on people in Syria at the moment, the UNHCR provides aid for a wide range of people. This is where the power of life narratives, specifically those that Stanton has chosen to broadcast, is seen. Stanton is coupling a personal story with a plea for aid. Essentially, because people feel emotionally connected with the person in the photo and their story, they are more likely to be compelled to donate and help that person. It is a brilliant and effective model.

I believe there is one hitch to the plan. When the instalment of pictures/ stories is current, this model is effective and powerful. However, once the instalment is over the cause it was fighting for is at risk of being quickly forgotten. This phenomena is only expedited by the medium that HONY uses: the internet, which is an ever evolving source of information. How can we turn a fleeting glance of a blogger into something that has a permanent impact?

While there is always room for improvement, HONY does an amazing job of getting large audiences to listen and acknowledge the life narratives of a diverse group of people. Stanton uses the power of life narratives to make a positive change, and that is something anyone can admire.

Everyday, life narratives, both short stories and long autobiography’s, get broadcasted throughout the world. Narratives can travel through news channels, articles, books, or even Facebook posts. The common theme throughout all of these genres is the immense power life narratives hold. Our world is colored by these little glimpses into peoples lives. To fully understand life narratives, it is imperative to do Whitlock’s’ challenge.

Whitlock challenges her reader to take an analytical look at their local bookstore and Amazon. The main objective is to observe trends like: who the autobiographies are about and how they are marketed. It is important to keep an eye out for which stories are successful as it can provide an insight to what society is interested in hearing.

One memoir that caught my eye is Hilary Clinton’s Hard Choices: A Memoir. Peering down on me from the top shelf is a firm, but kind looking Clinton in front of a soft grey background. Clinton is put together, but not too flashy; she looks mature. On the Cover is a quote from The Guardian that encompasses what the whole back cover of the book (littered with various quotes) tries to say: Clinton managed to tell a well written, intriguing story.

Things start to get interesting when I cross-referenced the hard cover with the online version. The bookstore version was a re-release from the original version published a year ago (the version I found online). The old cover is black and white, Clinton is smiling but somehow seems less at ease. Each version of the book was published under very different circumstances, but both are meant to gain public favor and ultimately increase votes. In 2014, Hilary Clinton was not yet a presidential candidate. She was a politician that needed to start improving her public image and get her name on the forefront of the mind of America. It is not a coincidence that Clinton announced her bid for presidency and republished her memoir in the same month, April of 2015. As a full fledged candidate for president, Clinton needs to promote a new image. In an article written by the New York Times, Clinton wants to “highlight that she is a grandmother and trumpet her chance to make history.” She wants to be perceived as a comfortable, confident woman. This idea is mirrored in the second cover, Clinton is looking steadfast into the future, in full color and not apologizing for it.

Prominent members of society use the release of a life narrative to increase the amount of publicity around them. In fact, politicians, celebrities, religious figures, anyone who is a “house-hold name” dominated most of the space in the non-fiction section of the bookstore. Rarely did I see a book from an immigrant or for that matter, someone who wasn’t white and from the West. I find it disheartening that in an age where there are so many stories to be told, all the publicity goes towards making sure a republished memoir is successful. There needs to be a collective effort to make the stories of the oppressed are heard. It is time to capitalize on the power of life narratives and increase the variety of subjects being heard.

Citation:

Chozick, Amy. “Hillary Clinton Announces 2016 Presidential Bid.” The New York Times. N.P. 12 April 2015. Web. 2 Oct 2015.