Humans of New York creator Brandon Stanton will speak at the University of Utah on March 9 at 12 p.m. at Kingsbury Hall. The Humans of New York (HONY) project features portraits and stories of people from the streets of New York and has garnered more than 25 million followers on social media. Stanton\u2019s 2015 book \u201cHumans of New York: Stories\u201d is a compilation of these portraits and is a No. 1 New York Times bestseller.<\/p>\n
Tickets will be free and available to U students starting Feb. 1 at the Kingsbury Hall box office. A valid student ID is required. Availability will expand to faculty, staff and the general public on Feb. 8 at the box office and online<\/a>. There is a limit of two tickets per person.<\/p>\n Stanton\u2019s visit to the U is sponsored by the U\u2019s MUSE Project (My U Signature Experience), a presidential initiative that works to enrich undergraduate education across the university, and this visit highlights the MUSE Project\u2019s theme year on optimism.<\/p>\n \u201cStanton understands his work as fundamentally optimistic \u2014 a means of building community through the art of photography and through listening to people tell their stories,\u201d said Mark Matheson, director of the MUSE Project and English professor. \u201cWe admire the democratic inclusiveness of his project, which is based on the truth that every human being has a compelling personal narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n Stanton began Humans of New York with a goal to photograph 10,000 New Yorkers on the street and has expanded it to include stories of people across the globe. Additionally, HONY has successfully raised millions of dollars for individuals and organizations. In 2013, Stanton was included in Time magazine\u2019s \u201c30 People Under 30 Changing the World.\u201d He was an ABC News \u201cPerson of the Week\u201d and was invited to photograph former President Barack Obama in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n Through a grant from the O.C. Tanner Company, MUSE has provided 400 copies of \u201cHumans of New York: Stories\u201d to U students and other members of the university community. The book is being used by several professors this semester as part of their course curricula, and MUSE will host student-led discussion groups that will explore Stanton\u2019s work.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is something intrinsically optimistic in the process of education itself,\u201d said Matheson. \u201cWe believe that every U student brings to our campus a unique constellation of gifts, and our charge is to help all of them develop their personal talents and capacities. We do this by building a culture of individual mentoring across campus and connecting students with inspiring people like Brandon Stanton.\u201d<\/p>\n