Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 354

"I’m stuck in an institutional trap."

"I’m stuck in an institutional trap."

"You’re taking my picture!"

"You’re taking my picture!"

"She was 2 lbs 11 ounces when she was born. We named her after...

"She was 2 lbs 11 ounces when she was born. We named her after Amelia Earhart, in case she needed to fly away."

"I told the truth on my job application about my past drug use,...

"I told the truth on my job application about my past drug use, and they sent me a letter saying I didn’t meet their standards of integrity."

"We got engaged an hour ago. We were on a rooftop, and I told...

"We got engaged an hour ago. We were on a rooftop, and I told her I wanted to take a time lapse photo of her looking off the roof, then when she turned back around, boom."
"Were you nervous?"
"I was more nervous when I had lunch with her parents to ask for permission. I couldn’t bring myself to ask, and actually had to call them back to the table after they’d gotten up to leave."

“If her sister climbs, she climbs. If her sister makes a face,...

“If her sister climbs, she climbs. If her sister makes a face, she makes a face. If her sister says something, she says the exact same thing.”

Double Team

Double Team

I asked him for his photo. He stared at me for a few seconds,...

I asked him for his photo. He stared at me for a few seconds, then felt my forehead with the back of his hand, then stared at me for a few more seconds, then said: “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

"She was filled with regret before she died. She felt like...

"She was filled with regret before she died. She felt like she’d failed us as a mother tremendously."
"Did she say something to you about it?"
"She never said anything, so I don’t have any tangible proof that she had regrets. But she had a very bad substance abuse problem. And I know she always wanted to be a good mother. So I separate my mom from her disease. I always imagine that my mom and an alcoholic were living in the same body. And I know that my mom loved us. And that she hated the alcoholic."

“My younger brother killed himself when he was sixteen. He found...

“My younger brother killed himself when he was sixteen. He found my Dad’s old gun in the ceiling panels of the office. The strange thing is, when he came home from school that day, my grandmother was cooking in the kitchen, and he asked her to make him a plate. Then before she could finish, he was dead. So we wonder, maybe he was just playing with the gun and it accidentally went off. There wasn’t a note or anything. My biggest regret is that he’d recently asked me for money to sign up for Tae Kwon Do lessons. And I always gave him money when he asked. But this time I didn’t, because I was newly married and we were pinching pennies. I always wonder if he’d have learned something in those lessons that would have changed his view of life.”