I always say that my favorite people to interview are the people who are at the beginning and the ends of their lives because they have two alternate perspectives of the world, and neither of them are less profound.
Social media is a superimposing place where people are usually bragging.
Being a doctor, lawyer in war-torn countries isn't easy when the infrastructure isn't there. The money, the food and education is not always accessible to achieve those dreams.
I've taken pictures in at least 14 countries, and nowhere have people told me 'no' more than New York City.
My two biggest lessons learned as a trader are take risks and get comfortable with taking losses and setbacks to help move you forward.
I think it's important to try to get on a kid's level when taking their photo.
New York has the biggest, most eclectic collection of people in the world.
I didn't actually begin photographing, or even visit New York, for the first time until I was 26.
Wherever I go, I just try to show normal life. If the work helps to dispel stereotypes, it's because I seek not to portray the extremities of a place, but the vast majority of people who are quite normal and are having normal life experiences.
The media chooses to portray the most extreme and violent aspects of a place. I do the opposite and portray the normality.
Fortunately, I've done so many interviews that I've become very good at detecting when someone is giving a less-than-candid reply.
I've done commercial work for Amtrak. However, that was branded as Stanton. I stipulated at the very beginning that it was not going to involve 'Humans of New York,' that I wasn't going to promote it on 'Humans of New York.' So nobody who follows me really even knows that I did it.
I'm not even really attempting to brand myself outside of 'Humans of New York.' I think part of the reason for my success is that I've put my ego aside and said I'm not going to put all of my effort into trying to promote myself. I'm going to try to promote my work and am going to try to promote my project.
When I first started 'Humans of New York,' I was writing short stories. There were about 50 of them. And, you know, they were a great part of the site, but the photography just started growing so fast that I didn't have time to make them anymore.
A lot of the children I photograph are extremely colorfully dressed in some way. But I also find a lot of kids with outsized personalities or who happen to be doing something charming.
