Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 394

"I’m a cinematographer.""How do you differ from other...

"I’m a cinematographer."
"How do you differ from other cinematographers?"
"That’s tough to put into words. We all have different visions. You know how when you read a book, your mind creates a vision to match the words? Cinematography is just trusting that vision."

"When I’m doing work around the house, I give him this...

"When I’m doing work around the house, I give him this educational iPad app to play with, and he’s completely absorbed by it. Then recently we were at the grocery store, and he wanted to tear into some yogurt, and I told him that he had to wait until we paid for it. He said: ‘You mean I need to be patient?’ I thought: ‘Whoa.’"

"If a child isn’t proficient in reading by 3rd grade,...

"If a child isn’t proficient in reading by 3rd grade, their HS dropout rate is 4x higher. So I’m trying to develop a system to help blind children develop literacy as soon as possible. If you think about it, books for young children are picture-driven, with very few words per page. So it’s tough for blind kids to really participate. So we recommend pre-reading activities to build the scene before the story begins. If you’re reading Goldilocks for example, take the child to the kitchen first, allow them to feel where the scene is going to be set. If the story is about a lamb, get a fluffy towel, so they can feel what a lamb looks like. It’s all about making the reading process as experiential as possible, so blind children can place themselves in the story without the aid of pictures."

"Having a child is constraining. There’s a lot of things...

"Having a child is constraining. There’s a lot of things you used to do that you can’t do anymore. But it’s also extremely expanding."
"How is it expanding?"
"Because you suddenly relate to everyone else on earth who has a child. No matter what race, class, or creed."

"When I was sixteen, I moved to this new high school, and this...

"When I was sixteen, I moved to this new high school, and this girl kept picking on me. Picking on me, picking on me, picking on me. One day I got so angry, I told her: ‘Meet me outside after school. We’re gonna fight.’ She was my best friend after that. She wouldn’t let anyone pick on me."

"What’s the most frightened you’ve ever been?""Every...

"What’s the most frightened you’ve ever been?"
"Every morning I wake up."
"Why’s that?"
"I’m old, I’m sick, I’m crippled, and nobody wants my art."

"If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of...

"If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?"
"Don’t sweat petty stuff, and don’t pet sweaty stuff."

"It’s not easy being a jazz musician that’s supposed...

"It’s not easy being a jazz musician that’s supposed to be famous."

I went to Ireland a couple weeks ago to give a speech at...

I went to Ireland a couple weeks ago to give a speech at University College Dublin. The students sent me a video clip from the portion of my speech where I took a member of the audience and demonstrated my approach and interview process. For those of you who are curious about such things, it’s a fun video and provides a pretty nice summation:

"My dad always wanted me to work in an office and wear a suit,...

"My dad always wanted me to work in an office and wear a suit, but all he ever showed me was how to work with my hands. And that’s what I love to do."