Brandon Stanton

Overview

Brandon Stanton was born in 1984 and grew up in Marietta, Georgia. He studied history at the University of Georgia and, after graduating, took a job as a bond trader in Chicago. He had no background in photography and no particular plan to become one. In 2010, he lost his trading job and decided to do something completely different. He moved to New York City with a camera and a simple idea: photograph 10,000 people on the streets and plot their portraits on a map. He had almost no money, no connections in the photography world, and no formal training. He just started walking and talking to strangers.

Why He Matters

What began as a photographic census of New York City evolved into one of the most influential storytelling platforms in the world. Stanton discovered that the short interviews he conducted alongside his portraits were as powerful as the images themselves, and he began pairing photographs with his subjects' own words on a blog he called Humans of New York. The combination of honest portraits and candid, deeply personal stories attracted a global following that now exceeds 30 million people across social media. Stanton has published four #1 New York Times bestselling books, traveled to more than 40 countries to photograph and interview people, and raised over $20 million for individuals and causes featured in his work. In 2013, Time magazine named him one of its "30 Under 30 Changing the World," and in 2015 he became the first social media creator to be granted an interview in the Oval Office with President Barack Obama. Stanton proved that photography does not require a studio, a staff, or a famous subject. A camera, genuine curiosity about other people, and the willingness to listen can build something that reaches millions.