Wow. Some critics really despise Humans of New York (HONY). Maybe that's just because it's so popular. Don't critics always become more vociferous the more popular something becomes? With almost 12 million followers on Facebook HONY sure is one of the popular kids on the web right now, and has predictably gathered a number of haters too.
HONY's creator, Brandon Stanton, roams the streets of New York and somehow manages to get people to not only let him take their picture and post it on the internet, but also reveal a most intimate or quirky fact about their lives. The followers online see the photo, read the caption and are moved to comment, like, engage, offer words of support, start a fundraising campaign, ask for a link to listen to the music or see the art etc. There is a sense of community, communion, and often an arising debate or act of good will. But critic Melissa Smyth who is a very serious photographer with 600 Facebook followers, says the posts lack depth and the portraits are insipid and uninspiring. And that's actually the softer angle of her critique.
In an article of Smyth's which I came across online, she explains why HONY is the cyber devil. She rips into the photographer, the blog and those who enjoy it, saying that basically we (I am among the 12 million) are destroying the world. Smyth says the sentimentality of the photoblog means people don't have to confront the difficult conclusions that would come from an "honest scrutiny of social reality". And instead of praising HONY for "humanising" people, Smyth calls RED FLAG: humanising infers these subjects were less than human before and reinforces a dangerous idea of a normative, hegemonic humanity. All from the lens of a single perspective- a young, white American male, which, no matter what he says, Smyth will probably find poisonous anyway. Read more here.
Valid points could be made for both arguments. Which side are you on?
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