TOW #5 - HONY

     Brandon Stanton, the man behind the popular blog called Humans of New York (HONY), began his blog as an amateur photographer. Although he’s still not technically a “professional”, his photography blog has become so popular that it is now his profession. On his blog, Brandon posts pictures of random people on the street with quotes that come from short interviews and conversations. For this particular picture, Brandon frames the picture in a way that showcases the subject’s handicap and chooses a short caption in order to create pathos in the viewer and remind people to always look on the bright side.

Humans of New York - posted July 1, 2014

     The first thing a person would see as they scrolled through their Facebook or Instagram feed is the subject’s missing arm. This immediately creates pathos in the viewer by blatantly making it clear that the man in handicapped and reminding him or her that, in most cases, no matter what other struggles he or she has had, he or she at least still has two arms. The bag held up behind the man’s head suggests that he is hardworking and doesn’t let his handicap get in the way of that. His face is partially hidden by his hat, and he doesn’t look like he’s posing particularly for the photo. This makes him seem humble, creating more pathos. Just by looking at the photo, before the viewer reads anything, the man in the picture has already make an impression on the viewer that he doesn’t let his handicap bother him.
     This idea is then further enforced as the reader glances at the short caption. Straight and to the point, like a six (eight, in this case) word story, the man affirms what the reader can infer just by looking at his portrait. “No struggles,” he says. Again, the viewer admires the man in the picture for being so strong and not letting his handicap or anything else bother him, reminding the viewer not to worry so much about the little things.