Why You Should Buy “Humans of New York”

by Anne Paddock

Two days ago, Humans of New York (“HONY“), a photography book by Brandon Stanton was released and although the chatter and buzz made me a skeptic initially, HONY really is a book worth buying for the following reasons:

Brandon Stanton is a genuinely nice human being;
In a world obsessed with social media, Stanton reminds us that photographs and voices still matter;
The photographs are of real people on the streets of New York City;
In a city where life moves on, Stanton’s photographs make life stop for a moment;
The book humanizes a city known as much for its size as its individuality;
Stanton shows that age, sex, race, sexual orientation, and faith are not barriers to love, fashion, hope, pain, laughter, dreams, and a message;
Once you start reading HONY, the book is hard to put down;
The book can be read in an hour or two but fuels conversation always;
When you turn the last page, you will be smiling and feeling good about human beings;
Because the pages aren’t numbered;
Stanton shows us that its ok to be different and take the road less traveled;
Because Gac Filipaj is an inspiration;
Because the picture of a young child playing chess with a middle-aged man is priceless;
Because the math teacher at the Fashion Institute of Technology rocks;
Because “Even when the mind is gone, the heart shows through.”
Because “Sex and the City 8” is hilarious;
Because the Chief of Personnel for the Fire Department is a hero;
Because the school girls in Williamsburg got the moves;
There are “few outward, observable differences between males and females” except when culture intervenes;
Stanton’s mother would worry less about her son’s future;
Because there is hope for bond traders (that’s a joke); and
Because New York City needs an official photographer.