What an amazing book! I love this entire concept so much. I tried not to read it too fast because I didn’t want it to end. Some stories were funny, some were so heartbreaking, some were heartwarming...so many different stories from so many different walks of life. It really puts things into perspective. Definitely a book I will read more than once. ( )

You look into the eyes. You look at the posture. The hands. The feet. Whatever they allow us to see. And read the words they share. Incredibly intense. From the one-sentence stories to the 3-page ones. The perfect editing - it is quite extraordinary, if you think about it, how placing two stories side by side multiplies their effect and creates something more than either of the stories could convey by themselves. And Brandon sharing his thoughts about the process, about what connects us all, from every part of the world, us, humans. Just perfect.

P.S. In case you are not familiar with his Facebook page Humans of New York, go, check it out. There is an incredible community there, jumping to help whenever they can. Restores your faith in humanity instantly. ( )

Wow! Amazing portraits of people from several countries. The author/photographer asks each subject what s/he is struggling with and we get amazing stories....from several paragraphs to a singe word. This is a book I will keep and look at many times. ( )

While Stanton's earlier work featured portrait photographs specifically in New York, his latest takes him around the globe with people's photographs and stories from Iran, Ghana, Italy, France, and more (and yes, in New York too). Each photograph has its subject clear with the background blurred, sometimes of a person or two seated in a park, or standing on the sidewalk, and other times it focuses on just part of the figure with the face cut off, hands clasped or holding a cigarette, or a phone held out showing an older photograph. Beside each are the person's story, whether that be struggles or heartache, a love story, or in some cases just one line of text.

Those familiar with Stanton's work on social media will find the form familiar and still appreciate this collection, some of which has been posted and others that I don't remember seeing at all. It's heartbreaking and joyful and all the emotions in between. In his introduction, Stanton reflects that a collection like this can't really capture the whole of human existence, but wow, what he does include is really striking, and left me thankful for the life I have. Some photos were so striking, I just had to look at the person for a bit before reading their story. In between sections, Stanton writes a few thoughts on "struggle" or "connection" and how his process of finding a photo subject and talking with them works. Highly recommended. ( )

In this expansion of his Humans of New York project, Brandon Stanton travels to cities around the world to photograph people he meets on the street, interview them, and share parts of their stories. It's an extremely interesting exercise, and a good reminder that everyone we encounter, everywhere, has their own story and their own struggles. But what really struck me about this one is how terribly unhappy (or even, in some cases, horrific) the majority of these stories seem to be. I doubt it's the intended effect, but mostly it just leaves me with the impression of the world as one profoundly sad place. ( )