According to Wikipedia, Brandon Stanton is « an American best selling author, photographer, and blogger… the owner and operator of Humans of New York ». In his own words pronounced during a visit at Oklahoma State University, Brandon Stanton is a photograph above everything else. Above author. Above business man.
Here are some quotes that lead his life and work.
1. ” You cannot wait for the perfect idea or for the perfect time. You have to start before you’re ready. ”
Don’t keep elaborate your perfect plan in your mind, just act right now.
Brandon Stanton’ initial goal was not pictures with stories. It was only pictures. “Humans of New York began as a photography project in 2010. The initial goal was to photograph 10,000 New Yorkers on the street, and create an exhaustive catalogue of the city’s inhabitants. »
And thanks to some chance or some inspiration maybe, thanks to the « Green Lady », Stanton faced his turning point. Stanton didn’t like the « Green Lady » picture and didn’t want to publish it. But the following day he had no choice to post it because he had anything else. Because he though the picture was not representative enough for the Green Lady’s story, he decided to include a quote of her.
« So do you do a different color every day ? »
« No, I used to be a different color every day. But then one day I was green, and that was a good day. So now I’ve been green for 15 years. »
That’s how quotes and stories appears. That’s how success came. And that was not the initial plan.
2. ” Failure is a skill. “
« Don’t be afraid to be wrong, don’t be afraid to fail, take risks. And if you fail, that’s not the end of the world ». Okay failure is clearly less pleasant than success. Everyone wants to succeed. But sometimes you fail. Here makes the « Failure is a skill » sense : failure is your skill is you are able to recover, to bounce back and to fight again.
Stanton failed at college. He quickly left college and then lived in his grandma’s basement. But then he came back to college and get graduated with an history major.
Stanton failed at social life. He didn’t do anything expect working hard as trader at a financial firm in Chicago.
Stanton failed at work. He lost his job. But that lost was more a gain than anything. On that day, Stanton felt happiness instead of the panic. On that day, he decided to start doing what he wanted to do. Photography.
3. ” Following your dream is all but not working.” Choose your work. Choose the work you’re dreaming of. And even in choosing the work you’re dreaming of, you’ll have to work hard to it. Nothing is easy.
Photography was Stanton’s dream. He did it.