Brandon Stanton arrived in New York City 15 years ago and began taking photographs on the street and interviewing the people he photographed.  “Humans of New York” published in 2013 was the result and led to his web site of the same name.  Today that web site has 30 million followers. He has interviewed more than 10,000 people in more than 40 countries and raised $20 milliion for various causes.

Named one of the 30 most influential people under 30 by Time Magazine, he has continued his exploration of humanity in NYC which has “every foul odor, every unspeakable secretion of the human body. Every excess, every pettiness, every crim… but where a spectacle awaits.”  A spectacle that is best experienced when the 7 Train with its 700,000 riders a day and the 6 Train combine under Grand Central Station and “in this swirl, in this mix, this train could quite possibly contain the entire city, and among this mix, there is a greater tolerance than perhaps anywhere else in the world.”

Stanton acknowledges that “This city cannot be captured. Not with a pen, not with a paintbrush, not with poetry, and not with a camera.  It is a mirage, a fruit that withers on the vine as soon as you reach for it. There is no frame large enough. You can never say “This is New York”.  There will always be one more thing, one more person, one more story that absolutely must be included.”  But try he does in this spectacular nearly 500 page book filled with photos of New Yorkers of all ages, sizes, colors, and ethnic, religious, economic, and language persuasions.

I found the book to not only be a visual treat, but one that was filled with important messages from those photographed.  Even the most hardened MAGA fan might find some degree of empathy in reading these stories of childhoods scarred by abuse, alcohol, drugs, poverty, and violence and the results in adulthood.  If  you are not outraged by the damage our society does to its children, in this the richest nation in the world, you have clearly drunk the trump/vance/miller/noem koolaid.

This is not always an easy read, but just when you find your heart breaking, Stanton provides some comic or heroic relief.  I thank my dear friend Tony and his wife Harriet whose photos and words are on pages 349-351 for drawing this book to my attention.  Read it and revel in the beauty and ugliness that is Gotham.  Read it and widen your circle of compassion.  Read it and remember John Rawls, the Harvard philosopher, who wrote about the lottery of life and how easily one could have been on the other side of the curtain in that lottery.  Read it and feel human.