These images come from the wildly popular Humans of New York page. Photographer Brandon Stanton is all about capturing NYC citizens in their natural habitat, living their everyday lives. He brilliantly captures simple images of people along with brief quotes about their lives.
What interested me about these photos is how the photographer varies the way the subjects are portrayed. For example, in the first image, there is a generally deep depth of focus, allowing the two subjects to be of equal importance to the image as the background, as if they are a part of something greater, while still having individual value and personality. In the second image, the stillness of the subject in comparison to the busyness around him gives him a sense of importance and memorability, portraying him as if he is timeless though everything around him changes. Finally, the third photo is beautiful in its simplicity, bringing the focus to the main subject who's placed front and center. This gives her a sense of significance, coupled with her quote ("I wouldn’t even have gone outside today if there had been something in my pantry."), giving the sense that the photographer knows her voice and struggles need to be heard.
Perhaps I am reading too much into the images, but to me they convey a lot about the significance of everyday lives. I think they're so meaningful because they combine documenting (the act of capturing a scene) with creating (creating or capturing a story/message within an image). This kind of photography is something I want to experiment with a bit more.
http://www.humansofnewyork.com/
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