Humans of New York: Stories

Title:  Humans of New York:  Stories

Author:  Brandon Stanton

Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2015. 432 pages.

ISBN:  1250058902 / 978-1250058904

Book Source:  I read this book because I love Brandon Stanton's work.

Opening Sentence:  "Occasionally I'm invited to colleges and seminars to explain the story behind Humans of New York."

Favorite Quote:  "Listen, a person is like a rubber-band ball. We've all got a lot of bad rubber bands, and a lot of good rubber bands, and they're all wrapped up together. And you've got to have both types of bands or your rubber-band ball ain't gonna bounce. And no use trying to untangle them You know what I'm saying?" [from one of the many stories in this book]

I love finding books where I see my own story and my own life reflected from the pages, and Brandon Stanton's work often does that. Even when the stories that do not reflect my life, I love and appreciate the humanity that they capture - the stories of humanity one person at a time.

A little history of the project - Brandon Stanton was not a photographer. He got his first camera in January 2010 while he lived and worked in Chicago. In July 2010, he lost his job. Over the next couple of months, he slowly travelled from Chicago to New York, taking pictures all the way. Upon his arrival in New York, his initial intent was to create a photographic census of New York City -  10,000 portraits plotted on a city map.

He had a blog and some visibility. A friend, then, created a Facebook page and a Tumblr blog. The project went viral. The Facebook page alone has almost 16 million followers as of today.

At this point, Brandon Stanton's work should really be called Humans of the World. In 2014, the United Nations invited him to visit and photograph in a 50 day tour of 11 countries around the world.  He followed with another trip to even more countries in 2015. Many of these countries are in the headlines of news media, most often for very negative reasons. Brandon Stanton's work provides a look at the people behind the name and news of that country. People like you and me. In fact, in an interview, he remarked on the similarities that exist, "I think the similarities I’ve noticed are the aspirations of people. It seems that everywhere I go, people want the same things – security, education, family. It’s just that so many people have no avenues through which to obtain these things."

This is the third compilation of his work to be published. The first was Humans of New York, and the second was Little Humans. The images remain the same - one portrait at a time. The stories accompanying each portrait are a little more in depth.

The book has no overt organization, but the portraits and accompanying stories do seem to be grouped by general topics. I am amazed by the intensely personal details people are willing to share in this forum.  Some of the topics include parenting, relationships, addiction, mental illness, terminal illness, death, dreams, hopes, aspirations, despair - really any and all aspects of life. Some share a simple moment. Some are sweet and some shocking. All are touching in their own unique way.

This book does not capture the images of of Brandon Stanton's trip beyond the United States (I hope those books are coming!), but from its base in New York City, it does capture a world all the way from a homeless person on the streets of the city to the nation's President in the White House.  Perhaps, in one or more of the stories, it may even capture you. I will continue to follow his work and remind myself that every person - every single one - has a story if we take the time to listen.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Little Humans

Title:  Little Humans

Author:  Brandon Stanton

Publication Information:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2014. 40 pages.

ISBN:  0374374562 / 978-0374374563

Book Source:  I read this book because I love Brandon Stanton's work! I have followed the project for a while and was looking forward to this book.

Favorite Quote:  "Little humans can be tough ... super HERO tough!"

Little Humans is a picture book with the quality of images expected from the Humans of New York (HONY) project but targeted for a picture book audience. As such, it does not have the narratives associated with each picture or the depth associated with the daily blog postings. If that is what you are expecting, you may be disappointed. If you take this book for what it's intended to be, it is delightful picture book with beautiful, diverse portraits and a positive message for children.

HONY creator Brandon Stanton was not a photographer. He got his first camera in January 2010 while he lived and worked in Chicago. In July 2010, he lost his job. Over the next couple of months, he slowly travelled from Chicago to New York, taking pictures all the way. Upon his arrival in New York, his thoughts were, "What struck me most were the people. There were tons of them. And they all seemed to be in a hurry."

Over that summer, he took over 600 portraits in the city. His intent was to create a photographic census of New York City. The plan was to take 10,000 portraits and plot them on a map of the city.

He had a blog and some visibility. A friend, then, introduced him to the power of social media, creating a Facebook page. This was followed shortly by a Tumblr blog.

The project then expanded to include interviews and short statement from the person/people pictured. In a Mashable interview, Brandon Stanton had this to say about the progression: "It went from photography to pictures of people; from pictures of people to portraits of people; from portraits of people to captions with the photograph. It went from captions to stories to where it is, fully formed, today — which is these very deep interactions with strangers on the streets." ("The Human Behind 'Humans of the New York," October 2013)

With the power of social media, the project has gone viral. As of today, the Facebook page has almost 11 million followers! This number stood at 8.3 millions in October 2013. In December 2013, Time Magazine named Brandon Stanton to the list of 30 Under 30 People Changing The World. In fall 2014, he was part of a 50 day tour in partnership with the United Nations. He captured and shared images from many countries including Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Uganda, Vietnam, and Mexico.

The project is being incorporated into teaching curriculums. It has also spurred many many similar projects all over the world, from San Francisco to Sydney, from Pakistan to the Fiji Islands. A project has even begun around the fictional world of George R R Martin's Game of Thrones series.

What amazes me about the overall project is:

• The diversity that the project encompasses - race, religion, age, economics, and along every other line.
• The very personal nature of the portraits and stories - Many of the stories that accompany the portraits on the blog are intensely personal. What is it about this storyteller and about this project that enables people to share the information? This book does not include these stories, but that is not the intent of the book.
• The viral growth of the project - over 11 million followers in a few of years and thousands of comments on every Facebook post.

When the first book Humans of New York came out, I instantly picked it up and loved it. It has everything expected from the blog. I looked forward to this book coming out.

This is a picture book with the same quality of images. It brings the images into a context appropriate for a picture book audience. This book includes a diverse set of images. However, instead of a story behind each picture, it includes an original picture book narrative - all about the joys and concerns of being a child who may be little now but who can do big things.

As with the project as a whole, I love the diversity represented in this book - something particularly difficult to find in picture books. I love that underlying that diversity of race, culture, religion and interests is the commonality that children are children the world over. They want to be loved. They want to play. They want to be seen for the unique individuals that they are. They are full of joy sometimes in the most adverse of circumstances. What a delight to find that in a book for children.

This book does a beautiful job of capturing both the diversity and the universality of childhood in a way that is easy to share to with children. I cannot wait to see what this project brings next!

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Humans of New York

Title:  Humans of New York

Author:  Brandon Stanton

Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2013. 304 pages.

ISBN:  1250038820 / 978-1250038821

Book Source:  I read this book because I have followed the project for a while and wanted to see the compilation in book form.

Favorite Quote:  "The people in these pages are very dear to me. By allowing me to take their photo, each one of them helped me to realize my dream. And I am so thankful for their participation."

I have been following the Humans of New York project for a few months and reading up on the phenomenon it has created. So, when I saw the book, I instantly picked it up.

Brandon Stanton was not a photographer. He got his first camera in January 2010 while he lived and worked in Chicago. In July 2010, he lost his job. Over the next couple of months, he slowly travelled from Chicago to New York, taking pictures all the way. Upon his arrival in New York, his thoughts were, "What struck me most were the people. There were tons of them. And they all seemed to be in a hurry."

Over that summer, he took over 600 portraits in the city. His intent was to create a photographic census of New York City. The plan was to take 10,000 portraits and plot them on a map of the city.

He had a blog and some visibility. A friend, then, introduced him to the power of social media, creating a Facebook page. This was followed shortly by a Tumblr blog.

The project then expanded to include interviews and short statement from the person/people pictured. In a Mashable interview, Brandon Stanton had this to say about the progression: "It went from photography to pictures of people; from pictures of people to portraits of people; from portraits of people to captions with the photograph. It went from captions to stories to where it is, fully formed, today — which is these very deep interactions with strangers on the streets." ("The Human Behind 'Humans of the New York," October 2013)

With the power of social media, the project has gone viral. As of today, the Facebook page has over 8.3 million followers!

The project is being incorporated into teaching curriculums. It has also spurred many many similar projects all over the world, from San Francisco to Sydney, from Pakistan to the Fiji Islands. This year, a project has even begun around the fictional world of George R R Martin's Game of Thrones series.

What amazes me about the project is:

• The diversity that the project encompasses - race, religion, age, and along every other line. Perhaps, that reflects the diversity of New York City, but it takes a special person to still capture so many different elements of it.
• The very personal nature of the portraits and stories - Many of the stories that accompany the portraits are intensely personal. What is it about this storyteller and about this project that enables people to share the information?
• The viral growth of the project - over 8 million followers in a couple of years and thousands of comments on every Facebook post.

This book published in 2013 is a compendium of some of the portraits and stories featured in the project. The dedication of the book reads, "To the City of New York - I had this crazy, juvenile idea that you were going to make all my dreams come true and you did."

 The book itself is a collection of about 400 of the portraits that Brandon Stanton has done. Some have short narratives to go with them, and some just have annotations as to where the scene was captured. Upon its publication, 30,000 copies of the book were pre-ordered, and it climbed to the top of the bestseller list.

So, what is the fascination? For me, I love the combination of words and photography, and the use of both to tell a story. I love the idea of capturing life and ordinary people in a positive and warm way and in a way to allow them to share their stories. I love the diversity. I know I look forward to the daily posts.

Next year should see the arrival of a new book, Little Humans. I can't wait!

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Moth Presents All These Wonders

Title:  The Moth Presetns All These Wonders

Author:  Catherine Burns (editor)

Publication Information:  Crown Archetype. 2017. 352 pages.

ISBN:  1101904402 / 978-1101904404

Book Source:  I received this book through the Blogging for Books program free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "I first started hearing about the Moth in the late 1990s."

Favorite Quote:  "The Moth connects us, as humans. Because we all have stories. Or perhaps, because we are, as human, already an assemblage of stories. And the gulf that exists between us as people is that when we look at each other we might see faces, skin color, gender, race, or attitudes, but we don't see, we dan't see, the stories. And once we hear each other's stories we realize that the things we see as dividing us are, all too often, illusions, falsehoods:  that the walls between us are in truth no thicker than scenery. The Moth teaches us not to judge by appearances. It teaches us to listen. It reminds us to empathize"

This is the first time I have heard of The Moth although the organization celebrated its twentieth anniversary this year. The cover and idea of the book sounding intriguing; so, I decided to learn more.

The book itself hooks me from the beginning in the foreword by Neil Gaiman. It states so eloquently an idea that I hold dear. From its beginning, the book reminds me of other favorites - the works of Brandon Stanton and StoryCorps. All these works seek to bring the world together, one story at a time, one person at a time. In the words of Maya Angelou, "We are more alike my friends, than we are unalike." All these works seek to convey this idea.

The Moth returns to the oldest of all storytelling traditions - the oral tradition.  The purpose of the organization, according to its media kit, states, "The Moth celebrates the ability of stories to honor both the diversity and commonality of human experience, and to satisfy a vital human need for connection. It seeks to present recognized storytellers among established and emerging writers,  performers and artists and to encourage storytelling among communities whose stories often go unheard."

The idea began in 1997 in Georgia in the home of novelist and poet George Dawes Green. He brought the idea with him when he moved to New York City. To date, The Moth has had over 26,000 stories told in over 3,500 live events, and the numbers continue to grow every days.

The idea has blossomed and grown with open-mic events around the United States and community, education, and corporate programs. The project has also evolved into a radio broadcast, podcasts, and, now, this book. The book is the first venture to translate this oral storytelling into the written word.

The title of this book, All These Wonders, comes from one of the stories in the book. The larger metaphor is that "we all have moments in life when we are forced off the map. Sometimes it's by choice ... Other times we get shoved there against our will ... But the stories in this book who that when we dare to face the unknown, we usually discover that we have more grit and tenacity than we thought. And we often land in a place that we couldn't even have imagined when we started out."

As is the case with a collection of stories, some touched me more than other because of where I am in my life and my own experiences. The book comprises about 50 stories organized into seven sections. The individual stories run the gamut from light-hearted to heart-breaking. Some storyteller names I recognize, and some are new to me. Each story is only a few pages long with a brief biography of the storyteller and the details of where the story was first told. All leave me with something to ponder. This book is a beautiful glimpse into a fascinating project. I look forward to reading and listening to more.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Food and the City

Title:  Food and the City: New York's Professional Chefs, Restaurateurs, Line Cooks, Street Vendors, and Purveyors Talk About What They Do and Why They Do It

Author:  Ina  Yalof

Publication Information:  G P Putnam Sons. 2016. 384 pages.

ISBN:  0399168923 / 978-0399168925

Book Source:  I received this book through the Penguin First to Read program free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "I grew up in Miami Beach, a child of parents who didn't cook - unless throwing frozen TV dinners into the oven every night is your idea of cooking."

Favorite Quote:  "What makes the great ones great - waiters to caterers, executive chefs to line cooks, newly arrived to fourth generational - is that when it comes to food, they know even the most minute detail can make a huge different."

Food and the City is like Brandon Stanton's Humans of New York minus the photographs and with a focus on the food culture of New York City. It is the stories of everyday people who are at the heart of the food scene of the city.

The introduction describes the people and the book. "The people with the most riveting tales to tell were, more often than not, people I'd never heard of or read about ... This book is an oral history in which the characters speech for and about themselves." This description hits at the heart of the book. These are not the stories of big name chefs or TV personalities. While I am familiar with many of the restaurants and business these people work in, I had no idea of their names or their stories.

Is this list complete or "THE" list of the food who's who of New York? Given the size and diversity of New York City, it is probably impossible to have any list be complete or solely representative of the city. As someone fortunate enough to have the ability to enjoy all that New York City has to offer, I am glad to see some of my favorite places represented in the book. I am also glad to see the book capture the diversity of the city, with people from so many different ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. What unites them is their love of food and their desire to share that food with others. That makes me happiest of all. I now have old favorites to go back to with a new understanding and a new list of places to try and people to meet.

The stories in the book are organized into several sections, based on some commonality - either an immigrant story, an inherited business, a clientele, or a role in the industry. What is interesting about the sections is that together each section provides a different look into the world of food. Every role within the industry has a unique perspective, and grouping the stories in this manner provides a stronger focus on that viewpoint.

Other than that, the sections in the book are really not significant because it is the individual stories that shine. The stories cover such a wide range of experiences, from a chef at Riker's Island prison to an Egyptian immigrant with a doctorate degree running the a wildly popular food card to the pastry chef at the elite restaurant Daniel. You can read the book cover to cover or just read about one and put the book down. You can flip the book open and read one at random because each one stands alone. This essay format makes the book very easy to read and navigate.

Two things I wish this book had - pictures and a food map. I would love to see the faces behind the names, the stories, and the places. Pictures would make these personal stories so much more personal. A food map is pretty self-explanatory. I want to know where to find these places, and I want to know what parts of the city this food tour covers. Yes, I can look them up, but I would love to have a visual tour as well the stories.

For those familiar with New York City, see if your favorite places are represented or find some new ones to try. For those unable to get to the City, here is a look at some wonderful people who call New York home and a unique way for the armchair traveler to wind their way through the city.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.