If you haven’t seen it yet, you need to check out the Humans of UConn page. At just over 4,000 likes, it is slowly gaining popularity among the UConn community. Inspired by the super-famous Humans of New York page, photos of various individuals around campus are paired with a short, and often insprirational, quote. UConn HerCampus had the chance to speak with Jay Lin, the photographer who brought this great idea to UConn.
Name: Jay Lin
Year: Senior
Major: Molecular Cell Biology
Other activities: Anatomy teaching assistant, research at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, and UConn Empower
Everyone has seen Humans of New York, what inspired you to bring a similar idea to UConn?
I feel like UConn is a humongous campus, and because we have a sheer amount of people, a lot of really good ideas, acts and events are kind of lost in the mix. I was inspired by Humans of New York- for me it really highlighted the personal stuff that I would not see if I was just walking around. It gets to explore people and their ideas and what they’re doing, so I thought that would be really appropriate for UConn because I know that in my first two years here, I met a lot of people whose stories I wish could get to a bigger audience. That’s what the project does: When I see something cool, not only do I see it, but over 4,000 other people see it.
So, in one sentence, what is the goal of Humans of UConn?
To give a better perspective of the people of UConn, through personal stories and beautiful photographs.
What do you look for when you are looking for someone to photograph?
Something that stands out to me. I think people that have something to say typically express it in their body language. They’re looking around, they have their heads up and they stand out. For me, when I’m see someone like that, I want to know what they’re up to.
For example, my last story was a girl in a cookie costume. I walked into the union and saw her, and went up and spoke to her and talked to her about it.
What is your favorite picture that you’ve taken?
My favorite picture is the current profile picture on the page, which is after the Holi event, where they threw lots of dried paint. I thought that visually looked so cool, seeing all those colors that you don’t see every day. It looks like it was almost a photo sheet, but I really just walked through and saw people.
Does anyone ever refuse you?
Yeah, I’d say a lot of people don’t like getting their picture taken. With portrait photography, you cant really hide a lot of flaws. Some people don’t trust you to make them look as good as they’d like to. When you post a picture on social media you have full control of what you’re doing, but when you give the power to a photographer you lose that control. I’d say I get about 50% acceptance rate when I ask them to take a picture.
What would you say to someone who is hesitant to get their photo taken?
If people are hesitant I don’t like to bother them or invade their privacy. But I do like to show people the pictures that I take, and convince them that I can make them look beautiful, and that I can take their beauty and show it to a greater audience.
What do you think are the benefits and impact of campaigns like these at UConn and other schools?
The main benefit that I see is that it adds a lot of richness to social media, which these days is filled with a lot of trash and invites to play Candy Crush. Because it is so easy to get a story to the public, people don’t put as much effort into it. I really want to create content so that when people log onto Facebook, they see something of quality.
It also allows people to get ideas across to more people. Two weeks ago I saw a post on Facebook about how my friend felt that the technology fees at UConn weren’t being spent right, and he felt that StudentAdmin was inadequate. I saw the status and thought it was a well-run campaign, but it only had about 30 likes on Facebook. I believed something like that needed to get to a greater audience. I used my tool to promote his position, and in one week he got 50,000 views.
What are your plans for Humans of UConn this year?
Right now I am working on a video component of Humans of UConn. My microphone broke so I’m actually looking for a new microphone (Currently accepting donations for this, message his page to help out). I’m working on my take of a UConn admissions-type video, because I feel that a lot of them seem scripted and oriented to the parent that wants the “best future” for their child. I’m thinking of making a five-minute video and talk to about 30 people. It’s going to be warm-hearted and give you a feel of the richness and diversity of the student body here. That’s the goal, and when I graduate, I really hope this could be some form of art exhibit like in the Benton or the library. I want people to enjoy my craft.
What will become of Humans of UConn when you graduate?
I’m not sure. A lot of photographers have asked to join the team but I haven’t taken any so far. I think that if there’s enough demand for it to live on, I think that it will. Before I graduate, I will ikely give it to someone else that really understands the objective of using photography to tell people’s stories.
Anything else we should know?
Well, I just got a shipment of Humans of UConn stickers that I will be giving out for free. I will be posting on my page where I will be dropping them off!
Check out the Humans of UConn Facebook and tumblr pages to see more of Jay’s photos!