Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 504

Seen in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Seen in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Today in microfashion…

Today in microfashion…

"People need to take responsibility for the energy they are...

"People need to take responsibility for the energy they are bringing into the world."
"Could you give me an example?"
"Sure. Today we were celebrating my cousin’s wedding. It was a very joyous day, but there was one person there who was not happy for her. Or maybe they were just dealing with some things in their life, because they were giving off bad energy the entire time. If you are going to bring bad energy to a joyous occasion, you may as well stay home.”

"I just got my master’s degree in art history, which might...

"I just got my master’s degree in art history, which might explain the dress."

"Do you mind if I take your photo?""Do I have to keep massaging...

"Do you mind if I take your photo?"
"Do I have to keep massaging her feet?"
"… yes."

"If you could give one piece of advice, what would it be?"...

"If you could give one piece of advice, what would it be?"

“Find the right woman.”

“Did you find the right woman?”

“I thought I had.”

“What happened?”

“She gave me the whole ‘I love you but I’m not in love with you’ thing. We’d been married for a long time. Had a house and two kids. She said we needed to try to spend some time apart, which I agreed to because I loved her so much. Next thing I knew, she’d moved in with another man.”

“Do you still love her?”

“Oh no, no, no. That hurt too bad. Though I do still call her on her birthday.”

Was sitting on a bench in Central Park yesterday afternoon, and...

Was sitting on a bench in Central Park yesterday afternoon, and I’ll be damned if this didn’t come walking toward me.

When I finished photographing the man in the previous post, he...

When I finished photographing the man in the previous post, he said: “Wait one second, I want to show you my father.” He went inside his store, and returned with this framed photograph.

"My father lost his entire family in Auschwitz when he was a young boy,” he explained. “After the war he moved to France. He went to a tie manufacturer and said ‘I will work for free, just teach me how to make ties.’ After a year of working there, he moved to America and got a job at a tie factory for 15 cents an hour. Soon he saved enough to buy his own ties, which he peddled on the streets. Then he saved up enough to open his own tie store. Then he started selling suits too. Eventually he opened five of his own stores.”
"Are they all still open?" I asked.
"No," he replied. "This is the last one left."

The store is Global International Menswear
62 Orchard Street on the Lower East Side.

This man became very animated while discussing his ideas on...

This man became very animated while discussing his ideas on happiness. He extended the index finger of each hand, and brought them very close together, as pictured: “Babies are happy with this much,” he said. “All they need is one ounce of milk.” Then he started to slowly widen the space between his fingers, until they were very far apart: “Adults,” he said, “are not even happy with this much.”

He pulled his fingers close together again: “You only need this to be happy,” he said.

Then he pulled them far apart again: “You do not need this.”

"From Japan."

"From Japan."