The number one hardcover non-fiction book on the New York Times' best sellers list the last week of October was not written by well known authors like Doris Kearns Goodwin or Bill O'Reilly. Instead, it was photographer Brandon Stanton's "Humans Of New York", a chronicle of portraits taken of average New Yorkers with their unique tales, life lessons and observations. Mr Stanton's story is unique in itself. From a NY Times article written about him by Julie Bosman, "he is a 29-year-old Georgia native with no training as a journalist. He has owned two cameras in his life and admits he has never learned the technically correct way to use them. When he moved to New York in 2010, he was friendless, nearly broke and recently relieved of his job as a bond trader in Chicago.But after he was laid off in 2010, Mr. Stanton decided to shift to a completely new career. He moved to New York, where he didn’t know a single person. Much of his time was spent on an ambitious project he dreamed up, photographing 10,000 people and mapping their whereabouts as a sort of virtual map of New York.After several months, he began moving in a different direction, interviewing his subjects and asking them about their lives, their struggles, their disappointments and their hopes.Most people brushed him off. “It was very emotionally draining at first,” Mr. Stanton said. “I’d be really disappointed when people would say no.” But his project gradually attracted an audience, mostly people in their 20s who left enthusiastic comments on his website. When his Facebook page had collected more than 200,000 followers, Mr. Stanton decided it was time to collect the pictures into a book". A best selling book, we may add...
Of all the stories Brandon has heard, there is one one story that truly moved him & turned him misty eyed as he shares in this video from MSNBC's Morning Joe.. One rainy afternoon in Columbus Circle, he spotted an older woman. "I see this 80-year-old woman coming towards me with this very bright umbrella," he says. Brandon took her photograph and asked her for her best piece of advice. "She said, 'I'll tell you what my husband told me when he was dying. I said, "Mo, how am I going to live without you?" And he said, take the love that you have for me and spread it around.'"
It is in this spirit that we at Camera Wholesalers offer you our sincere wishes for both a Happy Thanksgiving & a Happy Hanukkah. It is unique that these two festive holidays are celebrated on the same day and according to this web article in Time Magazine, have much in common. We hope you will enjoy the day and all it means with family and friends. We will be closed the entire day to observe the holiday(s) and will re-open on Black Friday at 10AM with some nice savings just for this weekend and remind you of our special Canon Day on Sunday, December 1st.
Till then, be well and yes, listen to Mo...
(Photo By Brandon Stanton)