How HONY’s summer 2015 trip did more than just stir an emotional response

“You will be smiled at, waved at, invited to meals, and asked to deliver personal messages to Jennifer Lopez,” wrote American photographer Brandon Stanton after a visit to Iran in December 2012.

The founder of the popular photography blog Humans of New York (HONY) is now back in Iran, documenting portraits and capturing real, poignant stories in his “last summer stop” after a successful trip to Pakistan earlier this month.

“My last stop this summer is Iran. Iran holds a special place in my heart because it was the first international trip that I ever made with HONY,” said Stanton in a Facebook post on Wednesday evening, returning to the country after three years.

As Congress debates and the world responds to the recent Iran nuclear deal after nearly two years of negotiations, Stanton’s trip to the nation could not have come at a better time.

“Brandon’s work has emerged as a great way of breaking media-propagated stereotypes against Iran and showing the real face of Iran to the world,” Iran’s Pendar magazine wrote after his last trip to Iran. “While there have been similar travel photo collections on Iran, the reason behind Stanton’s growing success and popularity is the manner in which he engages the subjects of his photography.”

During his short trip to Pakistan, he captured some remarkable stories that resonated beyond borders and captured the hearts of people around the world.

He also helped raise more than $2.1 million through a remarkable seven-photo series highlighting the struggle of a Pakistani female activist fighting against bonded labor that  forces an estimated 4 million people into working at brick kilns, usually in exchange for a loan.

After setting up an Indiegogo campaign for Syeda Ghulam Fatima titled “Let’s help Fatima end bonded labour’ for the Bonded Labor Liberation Front, he triggered an outpouring of donations from across the globe to help end the illegal practice.

“Thank you to everyone who has opened their hearts and donated to our cause,” Fatima said in a statement. “I struggle to find the words, I don’t think I have the words to tell you how grateful we are…Our responsibility now is to honor what you have trusted us with, and we will. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we want to build a real freedom center in Lahore, where we can work on not just releasing families but rehabilitation. We want workers to be treated with the rights they deserve as citizens.”

His heartbreaking post about a young Pakistani mother who left an abusive relationship with her toddler but faced rejection and hardships because she suffers from Hepatitis C also went viral and drew a flurry of emotions, concern and connections with organizations that could help.

In an update to the original photo, HONY posted an email ID where people who wish to help can contribute as well.

Although Stanton’s summer trip only included two countries this year, the astounding impact of his work so far and the unprecedented reactions from humans around the world to HONY’s posts is a much-needed restoration of hope in humanity and a beautiful achievement in itself.

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