I Laughed, I Cried, I Clicked 'Refresh' Until He Posted Another Picture
Humans of New York, by Brandon Stanton, is a crazy popular site, featuring his journalistic photographs of people in the city along with a word or two from the subject. They're by turns heartbreaking and giggle-inducing. The U.N. invited Brandon to take his camera past the five boroughs and into the great world beyond on an epic, 50-day tour.
"I’m studying to be a lawyer. He likes books about frogs." (Kasangulu, Democratic Republic of Congo)
"We just want to be together and not be afraid." (Erbil, Iraq)
"She shares her yogurt with me." (Nairobi, Kenya)
"If you speak gently, you’ll find good people wherever you go. If you find a bad person, just move on to the next person." (Petra, Jordan)
"This one likes photos too much. If he takes one more photo, I will break his camera. But don’t translate that." (Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan)
The U.N. sent Brandon around the world to draw attention to the Millennium Development Goals. These goals, created in 2000, were pretty audacious, like eradicating extreme poverty and reducing the number of women dying in childbirth by 75% (as compared to 1990 numbers). The deadline is 2015. You'd be amazed at how far we've come, but there's still more to do.
For me, these photos have the same effect as the famous Pale Blue Dot image taken from space — serving as a reminder that, no matter what happens, we're all in this together. Share this with the humans in your life, OK?