{"id":287522,"date":"2025-10-08T21:31:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T21:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/287522\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T21:31:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T21:31:35","slug":"humans-of-new-york-takes-over-grand-central","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/287522\/","title":{"rendered":"Humans of New York Takes Over Grand Central"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brandon Stanton, the photographer behind the tremendously popular photo series Humans of New York<\/a>, has spent most of his savings from the last 15 years on his latest project: a monumental installation at Grand Central Terminal. Stanton\u2019s public photo installation Dear New York, now on view, replaces all of the advertisements in the major Manhattan train station until October 19 \u2014 for the first time in Grand Central\u2019s history, according to the artist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stanton has taken over 10,000 photographs of New Yorkers since the summer of 2010, when he embarked on what he describes on his website as a \u201cphotography census\u201d of the city\u2019s residents. Now, a selection of his portraits is displayed throughout the train station\u2019s grand concourse, extending three levels into the subway stops for the S, 7, 4, 5, and 6 trains. He also asked 600 public school students to exhibit images of individuals they wanted to honor, and 11 local photographers were invited to participate in an exhibition held in the station\u2019s Vanderbilt Hall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\tDear New York in Grand Central Station
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\t\tThe public photo installation replaces all of the advertisements in the station temporarily.\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Intensely kind in disposition, Stanton can easily be pictured approaching strangers to take their photographs and welcoming their searing stories, excerpts of which line the station\u2019s walls. On Wednesday, October 8, Stanton walked through the bowels of Grand Central, threading past hurried commuters and maintenance workers, placing the final custom vinyl photographs on the tiled walls. He stopped to smooth out a rumpled section of vinyl as he walked. The quote inscribed read, \u201cI want to start talking to my family again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stanton first shared photos and excerpts from interviews with random New Yorkers on Facebook. His project has since evolved into an Instagram account with 12.8 million followers and four New York Times bestselling books. He claims to have raised $10 million for New York charities through his platform.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\tA passerby walks past turnstiles featuring portraits.
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\t\tStanton takes a photo.<\/p>\n

One vinyl panel reads, \u201cI am drawing the man who raped me.\u201d Another portrays a man lying on the floor unattended in a subway station. The knowing faces of Stanton\u2019s portraits are everywhere: beneath turnstiles, on columns, pathways, bright screens at Amtrak boarding zones, and projected onto the walls of one of the most iconic New York sites, Grand Central\u2019s main concourse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stanton used the word \u201cdemocratize\u201d to describe his desire for the New York public to engage with and participate in the project, which also features live pianists from Juilliard; he said he wants to find a way for community members to use the piano as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe art is going to change and evolve as people come and they interact with it,\u201d Stanton said.<\/p>\n

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\t\tThe installation is on view until October 19.
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\t\tThe project extends into the subway stops for the S, 7, 4, 5, and 6 trains.<\/p>\n

In Vanderbilt Hall, passersby, including local fashion designer Mary Jaeger, stopped to view works by students and local photographers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI rarely come to Grand Central, but I\u2019m really happy to see it,\u201d Jaeger told Hyperallergic. \u201cThat\u2019s what makes New York so exciting \u2026 because no matter where you go, you see these amazing exhibitions, and there\u2019s just art and performance everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabrina Santiago<\/a>, one of the local street photographers featured in the Dear New York exhibition, has 10 works on display. In a phone interview, she said her photos depict \u201cwomen on the streets, how they present themselves in public, and how their body language and sense of style are a reflection of their identity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Santiago had answered a call for street photographers who documented their own communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really special to see how the other photographers took that prompt and ran with it,\u201d Santiago said. \u201cA lot of us are outside and trying to get a sense of the essence of New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\tExcerpts of people\u2019s stories line the station\u2019s walls.<\/p>\n

Stanton\u2019s composite public art project, he said, required convincing several institutions and individuals. To cast his images onto the concourse walls, for instance, Stanton said he asked Palladino\u2019s owner to use his balcony to install his projectors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he had said no, everything would have fallen apart,\u201d Stanton said. \u201cAnd so I had nightmares of this man saying no for weeks and months, and when I finally met him, he was the coolest guy in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stanton declined to disclose the cost of the project, beyond noting that it represented the majority of his savings since 2010. He said he initially sought to donate the proceeds from sales of his new book, Dear New York<\/a> (2025), to fund a creative project for the public benefit. The cost was significantly higher than his earnings, and he said he had to draw on his personal funds.<\/p>\n

His book is an \u201cattempt to take everything I\u2019ve learned about photography, storytelling, people in New York City over the past 15 years and make the most crafted, polished tribute to New York City I possibly could,\u201d Stanton told Hyperallergic. The Grand Central project, he said, is an extension of that attempt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\tPassersby viewed exhibits by public school students
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\t\tA non-human of New York.
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\t\tStanton hopes the New York public will engage with and participate in the project.
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\t\tA quote on a vinyl panel
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\t\tA person whizzes by the photo panels.
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\t\tOne photo depicts a man laying unattended on the subway platform.
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\t\tThe main hall at Grand Central Station
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\t\tA policeman standing near the photo installations
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\t\tThe Dear New York presentation\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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