In 2010, Brandon Stanton left his job on the Chicago Board of Trade and moved to New York to start anew. He founded a blog called “Humans of New York” (HONY). Through HONY, Stanton hoped to catalogue portraits of ten thousand New Yorkers through photos and blog posts.
At this point, Stanton has shared nearly five thousand photos. Each post includes a portrait of a person or a group of people in addition to a caption. These portraits capture something raw and original in their subjects. In his photographs and through his questions, Stanton is able to extract and expose people’s personalities.
Stanton’s blog gained so much attention that multiple universities and colleges have started their own social media sites in which they imitate the idea of HONY. Humans of The University of Delaware, Humans of Union, Humans of Geneseo, and even a Humans of Connecticut College have all developed as a result.
Daniel Janel ’17 created “Humans of Connecticut College” (HOCC). Janel is a transfer student majoring in economics. HOCC was just established this semester and is slowly developing a following. Janel created a Facebook page as well as an Instagram page for HOCC. At the moment, HOCC’s Facebook has 264 likes and its Instagram has 363 followers, and the pages are still growing daily.
Janel had heard of and enjoyed Stanton’s Humans of New York. He was inspired by the idea. Janel explained that he finds Connecticut College to be a school full of interesting and intelligent people he wants to understand. When asked what he hoped to achieve through HOCC, Janel answered that he wanted “students, faculty, and anyone that is part of the Connecticut college family, to express their feelings, thoughts, insights, and opinions of the campus as well as the world.”
Janel credits Stanton for the idea of making a Facebook and Instagram, in which he could record the stories and portraits of people from a community, but he says he is not necessarily imitating Stanton. When asked what he sees in the future of HOCC, Janel responded he would like to keep it more modest at this point but he considers expanding it if people begin to enjoy it. One idea Janel shared with me is his interest in possibly travelling to other NESCAC schools and photographing the students there. Janel was inspired by Stanton’s recent trip to Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he photographed and talked to city dwellers.
Janel admits to being a novice to the entire concept of HOCC. He has never formally interviewed anyone before so he decided it would be best to start by photographing people he already knows. Janel said,
“I am approaching people I know to teach myself how to approach people with my idea, rather my creation.”
Janel is getting a feel for where he wants HOCC to go. He plans on approaching people he does not know once he gains more confidence and a better understanding of the interview process.
At the moment, Humans of Connecticut College has under a dozen photographs/stories posted to its Instagram. With each post, the page has gotten more popular. Janel’s selections include a diverse group of students. So far the page includes portraits of a pilot, an international student, a dancer, a radical leftist, an injured women’s soccer player, in addition to other fascinating stories.
The page provides a direct example of how amazing our student body truly is. Janel’s collection of pictures and short stories make it possible to see how students at Connecticut College can come from different backgrounds, have different opinions, and reach for different goals while all coexisting within one community. This page allows students to learn interesting things about people at our school, even if they may never get the chance to meet any of the people in Janel’s photographs.
