Paul Pic:Emma Snaith
Inspired by Humans of New York, East London Lines has launched a new street photography series recording the stories of people from all walks of life across the ELL Boroughs.
From anecdotes about people’s happiest moments to their biggest fears and childhood memories, Humans of ELL aims to showcase the personalities in the diverse communities of Tower Hamlets, Croydon, Lewisham and Hackney.
The original Humans of New York project was launched by photographer Brandon Stanton in 2010 with the aim of photographing 10,000 New Yorkers on the street and creating an exhaustive catalogue of the city’s inhabitants.
Brandon posted the photos on the Humans of New York Facebook page along with a short story from each of his subjects. The page soon amassed a large following across the world and currently has just over 18 million likes on Facebook.
The Humans of ELL series will feature a photograph of a different person from the ELL boroughs everyday on the ELL Facebook page.
Here are some of the first posts in the series, featuring interviews with the people of Lewisham:
Amy Pic:Emma Snaith
“The happiest moment is now. Because if the happiest moment is not now that means that my present is continuously devaluated.”
Amy, 32, Brockley
Paul, Pic:Emma Snaith
“The happiest moment of my life was being at the birth of my son. I’m not a very emotional person but I was crying afterwards. It was a wonderful time. He’s 12 now.”
Paul, 49, Forrest Hill
Maddie and Jodie Pic:Emma Snaith
“To be honest I’m quite scared of terrorist attacks at the moment but I think it’s important to keep things in perspective. You can’t let yourself become overwhelmed by the fear and shut out the world.”
“I feel the same. I’m also very scared of spiders…”
Jodie, 19, New Cross & Maddie, 19, New Cross
Ashley. Pic: Emma Snaith
“My grandfather was my biggest influence. He is originally from Deptford. And obviously my dad’s from Deptford and now it’s me. I saw how well my grandfather got on in life through the market and we’ve always followed in his footsteps.”
Ashley, 38, Deptford
