Brandon Stanton will be speaking to the humans of Gainesville on Dec. 9.
Stanton, the writer and photographer behind the blog and best-selling book "Humans of New York," will speak to students at 8 p.m. at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. He will be paid $45,000, wrote Kevin Gerson, Accent chairman, in an email.
Since 2010, Stanton has initiated intimate conversations with strangers on the streets of New York. He posts several interviews, accompanied by portraits, on the HONY Facebook page nearly every day. His photos and interviews often reveal tales of extreme hardship or happiness.
On Facebook, Stanton’s page has 16 million likes. On Instagram, the page yields nearly 4 million followers.
Alex Mazzeo, a UF psychology junior, said he’s looking forward to hearing the stories behind Stanton’s interviews.
The 20-year-old is impressed by how Stanton earns the trust of complete strangers. If students look through the HONY page, Mazzeo said they’ll find something that touches them.
"I’ve never seen any project taken like this," he said.
UF biology junior Mar Dominguez has followed Stanton’s Facebook page since he was in high school. He said the HONY page is addicting because of how well Stanton mixes his photography with his writing.
"I think the pictures he takes are really complementary to the stories he tells," the 20-year-old said.
Contact Martin Vassolo at mvassolo@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @martindvassolo
