Humans Of New York: From New York's Streets to The Met Gala

The cherished photographer Brandon Stanton, better known as the man behind Humans of New York, was invited by Vogue to document this years Met Gala.

Selena Gomez photographed by Ben Stanton at the Met Gala ( Photograph courtesy of Vogue)

The event is one of the most prestigious social events of the year, attendees including top models, celebrities, and the top fashion designers. Although it might seem like the gala is simply another excuse for celebrities in avant-garde, the event’s soul purpose is actually a to raise funds the museum’s Costume Institute.

Ben Stanton started the Humans Of New York project in 2010. His passion for humans and their stories took him to the streets of New York City, where he found his life calling. Stanton noticed that the magic of the city is created by its people, and began a photographic project that can only be described as a love poem to the people of New York. Now, he has published two best-selling books, and has a whopping seven million followers on Instagram.

For a night, the photographer leaves the streets of New York City to document the grandiose halls of the Metropolitan Museum. Stanton’s images of the gala have an unprecedented honesty. Celebrities appear as vulnerable and raw as any other human being. It was a refreshing change from the commercialized images that are typically the result of such events.

Followers of the blog had an incredible reaction to the having celebrities in front of the Stanton's camera. I mean, who can resist the adorable Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively? Their image received over a million likes on the Humans Of New York Instagram page.

The image caption read: “She always responds with empathy. She meets anger with empathy. She meets hate with empathy. She’ll take the time to imagine what happened to a person when they were five or six years old. And she’s made me a more empathetic person. I had a very fractured relationship with my father. Before he died, she made me remember things I didn’t want to remember. She made me remember the good times.”

What do you guys think about this new perspective of the Met Gala?

Sources:

Humansofnewyork. "Humansofnewyork." Humans of New York. May 02, 2017. Accessed May 04, 2017. http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/160242810276/i-feel-like-im-just-starting-but-i-think-id-be

Macon, Alexandra. "Humans of New York Photographs the 2017 Met Gala." Vogue. May 02, 2017. Accessed May 04, 2017. http://www.vogue.com/article/met-gala-2017-humans-of-new-york-photos-hony.