Humans of New York

There is a group that I really like on Instagram that I have been following for quite a while now> It is called ‘Humans of New York’ and it is about someone that goes around and asks people about their biggest achievement or anything that they remember in life. It is quite interesting to look at the results. There are pictures of the people and then underneath a little story that tells something about them or a memory. This is what I have done as well by asking people around about their memories. The only difference is that I haven’t asked to take a photograph of them after I have asked them about their story. It really fits with the project I am doing as I have taken a story of someone as well from the past that I am adjusting and putting into my work. Following are a few examples of the page that I have copied just to show what it is about really.

Following is what the man above has told about himself: 

" My friend came up to me and said: 'Alfredo! There's some guy over there jerking off in front of women and kids.' So I ran up to this guy, and I said: 'What the hell do you think you're doing? Put your shit back in your pants and get the fuck out of the park!' And he stood up, and he got in my face, and he started to say: 'Fuck you!' But after he said 'fuck,' and before he said 'you,' I clocked him right in the face and knocked him out. When the cops came, I told them the story, and they said: 'You better get out of here before the boss gets here.' So I left the park, but this guy's tooth was lodged in my hand. He has some sort of infection. Cause two days later, my legs swell up like balloons, and I've barely been able to walk since."

Following is the story of the guy above:

"At the end of my senior year, I took some advanced level entry exams from Cambridge University. They are very difficult and very important. When the exam scores came in, my friend called me and told me that the principle was looking for me. My father was sitting next to me. He saw my face and asked me what was wrong. 'I think I did very poorly,' I told him. 'Because the principle is looking for me.' He told me that he would come to her office with me to support me. When we got there, there was a huge line of students waiting to get there scores, but the principle called me in. She told me that I was one of the three students in the school to get all A's. My father was so nervous when I came out, and when I told him, he hugged me so hard that I could tell he was trying not to cry. He was so happy, he took all the money out of his wallet, handed it to the security guard, and told him to pass it out to everyone in line. It was the happiest moment of my life."

Following is the story of the people above: 

"That's the Grandmaster in the back. He doesn't speak much English. He was number one in China back in 1980, so I knew of his name long before I met him. He's very humble. A true gentleman fighter. He's 68, but I've seen him put a spear against his neck, and use it to push a car." "So at what point can you call yourself a Grandmaster?" "A Grandmaster doesn't say he's a Grandmaster. Other people say it for him."

Following is what the man above has said about himself:

"After a job, there should be a moment of reflection, but it's easy to go beyond that moment and start living in the past. There are a lot of actors out there who haven't worked in a year, but still talk about their last job as it was yesterday."

Following is what happened to the boy above:

"They sent me to the psych ward 20 times. They said I has bipolar, schizophrenia, dyslexia, mad stupid shit. The only one that made sense was schizophrenia, because my mum has schizophrenia. I didn't have any of that though. I was just angry, What I was angry about, anyone would be angry about."

I really enjoyed reading stories like that because they're real and this is one of the other reasons why I have chosen to do this project.