作为世界上最大的经济中心和美国人口最多的城市，纽约的繁华程度被称为“世界之都”。整座城市大约有800万人口，有的行色匆匆，有的就闲着坐在家门口看车流。
而Brandon Stanton，这位从来没有学习过专业摄影，却抱着相机在街头奔走6年的“摄影师”，每天要做的就是穿街过巷随便找其中的6、7个陌生人聊人生。每次成功的靠近，Stanton就会用一句最无趣又最保险的话作开场白：“你好，我能给你拍张照吗？”而接下来他拍的任何一张照片，和任何一段对话，都有可能治愈全世界超过1500万人的一天。
从感性上来说，这个项目记录着纽约人最平常琐碎的日子，展现了这座城市容易被忽略的一面，同时因为着陆于人心最柔软的部分而深受喜爱；但如果从理性上看，这已经不是一个简单的摄影项目了：它在Facebook有超过1500万粉丝，每条po文动辄几十万人点赞分享，出版的图册连续46周登上《纽约时报》畅销书榜单，为教育、劳动权益、欧洲难民等慈善事业筹得过的善款至少了过400万美元。
“当这个夏天游泳池开放的时候，我却得了癌症。我真的很想去游泳，但是我知道不能离开医院。我恳求她不要没有我的时候去游泳，她真的没有去。”
“I got cancer in the summer when the pools were opening. And I really wanted to go swimming but I couldn’t leave the hospital. I begged her not to go swimming without me. And she didn’t because I couldn’t.”
“2009年我因为抗议新兵招募被逮捕了；2011年因为抗议赎回飓风桑迪被逮捕；我准备第三次被逮捕，因为我们5月14号将要去奥尔巴尼抗议化石燃料的使用。”
“I got arrested in 2009 for protesting army recruitment. Then I got arrested in 2011 for protesting foreclosures after Hurricane Sandy. And I’m about to get arrested again, because on May 14th we’re going to Albany to protest fossil fuels.”
“是她教会了我怎么跳舞。我们在在毕业典礼上认识，当时我是唯一一个不在舞池里的人，她的朋友打赌她不能成功地邀请我跳舞，因为我已经拒绝了十个女生的邀请了。但她居然成功说服我，于从此以后我们就一起度过了55年的时光。八年前她去世了，但是我每天还会跳舞。”
“She taught me how to dance. We actually met at a graduation party. I was the only one not on the dance floor, and her friend bet her that she couldn’t get me to dance. I’d already said ‘no’ to ten girls, but she talked me into it. We were together 55 years. She died eight years ago, but I still dance every day.”
“我想减轻父母支付大学学费的压力。”
“I’m trying to help my parents pay for college.”
“我的工作是分发报纸。我本来打算在高中毕业后只工作几个月的，但结果我一做就是三年。我不想自己一辈子都困在一个没有前途的工作里。我应该去读大学，但说起来容易做起来难。每次只要发生任何细枝末节的变化，我就会推迟。我不清楚，也许我是有抑郁吧。小时候我会整晚不睡地研究软件，我会下载程序、更改源代码，然后试着运行，我就是会对即将发生的事情产生好奇。而如果代码无效，我会不断尝试。我对此特别钟爱，觉得乐趣无穷。有时我会整晚不睡。最近，我试着重新研究软件代码，但是我再也感觉不到任何的乐趣了。做什么都感觉是项工作。”
“I distribute newspapers. I only planned on working for a few months after I graduated high school, but that turned into three years. I don’t want to be stuck in a dead end job my whole life. I should go to college. I just have a hard time following through. The moment any little thing goes wrong, I just put it off. I don’t know, maybe I’m depressed. When I was a kid, I’d stay up all night messing with software. I’d download a program, change the source code, and try to run it. I just wanted to see what would happen. If it didn’t work, I’d keep trying. I loved it. It was fun. Sometimes I’d stay up all night. Recently I tried to do it again, but nothing felt fun anymore. Everything just feels like work.”
“我坐在这张椅子上修手表已经修了快60年了，以前可能会需要更多技术上的维修，而现在几乎都是换电池而已。”
“I’ve been fixing watches in this chair for almost sixty years. It required a lot more skill in the old days. Now I pretty much just replace batteries.”
“我今年66岁了，但是我每天都会骑55公里的自行车。我的养老金并不是很高，所以我在骑车路上会捡些金属废料给收集中心。我习惯踩着自行车到处去。几个月前，我踩了70公里去看我女儿，我中午出发天黑前就到了！我并没有很赶喔！”
“I’m 66, but I bike 55 kilometers every day. I don’t get much from my pension, so I ride along this road and pick up metal scraps to bring to the collection center. I ride my bike everywhere. A few months ago, I rode 170 kilometers to visit my daughter. I left at noon and got there before dark. I wasn’t even rushing!”
有人说：纽约是冒险家的乐园,对他们而言,是天堂；可对于失意者来说,纽约是地狱。
“摄影师、艺术家这样的头衔都太正式了，其实我不过是一个讲故事的人。每个人都是一个故事，我尽量用一张照片传递出这个故事的诸多信息。这份工作使我能够接近别人的故事，撩开一角，瞄一眼里面的精彩世界。”
