--- title: Obama Comments on Iranian Humans of New York Post description: A post on of a popular photoblog has drawn the attention of the President—so much so that he left a heartfelt note. canonical: https://time.com/4021710/obama-humans-of-new-york-facebook-post/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-03T17:30:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:48.341Z og:title: President Obama Just Commented on This 'Humans of New York' Photo og:description: "This one really resonated with me" og:url: https://time.com/4021710/obama-humans-of-new-york-facebook-post/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Just Commented on This 'Humans of New York' Photo twitter:description: "This one really resonated with me" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # President Obama Just Commented on This Inspirational 'Humans of New York' Post > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=1938c994-c851-49ba-b4dd-dc14a2dce569&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 30 Under 30: Brandon Stanton, Creator of 'Humans of New York' [Watch (HLS stream): 30 Under 30: Brandon Stanton, Creator of 'Humans of New York'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zT7Xss3H.m3u8) (5:10)  _Published 2013-12-12. Brandon Stanton is the street photographer turned culture spotter behind the blog "Humans of New York." His photos have been called capsules of a moment in time, and are being imitated all over the world._ by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Sep 3, 2015 5:30 PM UTC by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Sep 3, 2015 5:30 PM UTC A post on of a popular photoblog has drawn the attention of the President—so much so that he left a heartfelt note. The photograph, posted Thursday to the [Humans of New York](http://time.com/3687136/humans-of-new-york-hony-founder-raises-700000-plus-for-inner-city-kids-to-visit-harvard/) Facebook page, featured a young a Iranian boy and his father, along with a story from the proud parent telling how he knew his son would be a humanitarian when the boy gave away a bag of fruit he was asked to hold. The story was moving enough to catch the attention of President Obama. “One of the most fulfilling things that can happen to you as a parent is to see the values you’ve worked to instill in your kids start to manifest themselves in their actions,” said the President on the White House Facebook account. “And this one really resonated with me.”  In a possible allusion to his impending nuclear deal with Iran, the President also promised to “continue doing whatever I can to make this world a place where he and every young person like him can live up to their full potential.” Humans of New York is the brainchild of photographer Brandon Stanton, who set out to photograph and interview the inhabitants of New York City. Stanton is currently on his second trip to Iran. The comment was made from The White House Facebook account and signed with “bo,” which the President uses to sign off on social media posts. ### Grit, Grime and Graffiti: Christopher Morris on the New York Subway, 1981  The following previously unpublished photos were taken by Christopher Morris in 1981: A woman walks through a heavily graffitied subway car, 1981. Christopher Morris  Commuters wait for a train at 168th Street station in Manhattan, 1981. Christopher Morris  A commuter reading, 1981. Christopher Morris  A man sleeps in a subway car, 1981. Christopher Morris  A group of teens pose on the 6 train in the South Bronx, 1981. Christopher Morris  A young teen tags a D train subway car window in a South Bronx train yard, 1981. Christopher Morris  Commuters ascend and descend stairwells during rush hour, 1981. Christopher Morris  A woman waits to board a train pulling into a station, 1981\. Graffiti on the outside of subway cars was usually more elaborate than that inside. Christopher Morris  A commuter walks by a poster for the musical Dreamgirls and a Keith Haring chalk drawing, 1981. Christopher Morris  Members of the Guardian Angels volunteer anti-crime patrolers, 1981. Christopher Morris  A man is seen wearing headphones through a subway car window, 1981. Christopher Morris  A packed subway car during rush hour, 1981. Christopher Morris  A subway conductor exits the conductor's cabin, 1981. Christopher Morris  A man about to board a subway car, 1981. Christopher Morris  Discarded newspapers and trash on the floor of a subway car, 1981. Christopher Morris ## Transcript [00:03] >>Brandon Stanton is the street photographer turned [00:05] culture spotter behind the blog " Humans of New [00:07] York ." His photos have been called capsules of a [00:10] moment in time, and are being imitated all over the [00:13] world. He is on TIME's 30 Under 30: World Changers [00:19] list. Brandon. [00:21] >>Hi. [00:21] >>Your blog " Humans of New York" turned into a [00:24] book. One week on sale and [00:28] you hit the New York Times Bestseller list. You're 29 [00:31] years old. What is the first thing that you think when [00:35] you're on the New York Times Bestseller list at 29? [00:37] >>Even when I got the call, I wasn't expecting it at all [00:39] so it's more of an outpouring of emotion than it was [00:43] any kind of a, you know, structured thoughts. [00:45] >>You got a really interesting path to get to where you [00:48] are. In 2010, you were laid off as a Chicago bond [00:53] trader. [00:53] >>Right. [00:54] >>And the next thing you know, you're a huge success [00:57] in New York City. [00:58] >>Not the next thing. [00:59] >>Walk me through the line then. [01:00] >>So I lost my job. I've only been photographing for a [01:03] couple of months. It was just kind of a hobby. And, you [01:05] know, I lost my job- and I was in finance- and I kinda [01:08] had this moment of realization that in the last 3 years [01:11] of my life, I had really kind of been, you know, [01:13] organizing all my thought, energy and all my time [01:15] around making money, and so I wanted to do [01:18] something that absolutely had nothing to do with [01:19] money and I knew I enjoyed photographing and so I [01:23] said I'm gonna take some time off. I'm gonna travel [01:25] around and I'm going to photograph. You know, I'm a [01:27] very obsessive person. You know, I- it's benefited me. [01:31] I don't view that as a negative thing. But, you know, [01:33] every time I decided I wanna do something, I just do it [01:37] and that was photography at first. And so, you know, [01:41] the very early success of the blog was built on to just [01:45] kind of obsession with photography and then kind of [01:48] as the obsession died down, my audience was growing [01:52] and then it turned into devotion. [01:55] >>So you've taken more than 5, 000 portraits. [01:57] >>Right. [01:58] >>Who has stuck with you the most? [02:00] >>This one woman- 80- year- old woman- that I ran [02:05] into just south of Central Park and she had this very [02:07] bright umbrella and it's pouring down rain- context is [02:09] important in the story. It's pouring down rain- I don't [02:12] have an umbrella- and so this very old woman comes [02:15] walking towards me and I take her photograph, and I [02:18] get under the umbrella with her and I said " if you [02:21] could give me one piece of advice, what would it be ?" [02:23] And rain is coming down and she had this raspy voice [02:26] like the narrator from the Titanic, and she said " I'll tell [02:29] you what my husband told me when he was dying ." He [02:33] said- I said, " Mo, how am I gonna to live without you ?" [02:36] and he said, " Take the love you have for me and [02:39] spread it around ." Isn't that beautiful? I kinda find [02:43] that, you know, any experience I'm going through in my [02:45] life at this time- you know, I can look back and I can [02:49] say, you know, there's somebody I talked to on the [02:50] street- it was going through the same thing. So, you [02:52] know, memories of these interactions are always [02:55] popping up contextually. [02:56] >>Do you live your life by any motto or is there [02:58] anything that runs through your head walking down the [03:01] street? [03:01] >>So many people want to share their philosophies [03:04] and share their opinions, you know, and I'm just [03:08] like- I kinda rebel against that- and just like, you [03:10] know, " well, I just want to work hard ." I just want to [03:13] work hard and kinda let the work speak for itself. So, [03:15] you know, I try not to form these overworking [03:18] philosophies about what hone is about. You know, [03:21] what is it contributing to the world? What's the meaning [03:25] behind the work? You know, why am I doing it? I'm [03:27] doing it 'cause I love it. I- other people seem to [03:32] enjoy it and I want to get better at it, and if there's [03:34] meaning in the work, let that come out organically. [03:37] >>What advice would you give to people who find [03:40] themselves laid off? [03:42] >>On a broader sense, I mean it all comes down to [03:45] work. You know, I spent so much time trying to give [03:47] people advice and then it's just like it's gotten narrow, [03:51] narrow, narrow, narrow- just like, " God, dang it. Just [03:55] work ." Just work. You know, don't wait. Everybody is [03:58] waiting till they have the perfect idea to start working, [04:02] you know. Just even if you have kind of an inkling of [04:05] what you wanna do, start moving towards it and it's [04:08] gonna flesh itself out through the process of moving [04:11] towards the goal. And by the time you get to where [04:14] you're gonna be, it's not gonna look anything like it did [04:17] when you sat on the couch thinking about it and if you [04:21] wait to get till it's perfect in your head before you get [04:25] off the couch and start working on it, that's never [04:26] gonna happen. [04:27] >>Photography the rest of your life? [04:29] >>There's this feeling, you know, of having built up [04:33] this audience, you know, over this time period and [04:37] having them rely on you for daily content in this case [04:41] photography. You know, there's- it's a very good [04:44] feeling but there's this feeling of being just attached to [04:49] it, you know, that if you stop, it'll dissipate so- [04:53] I mean right now I can't imagine stopping [04:56] photographing. Just taking these 2 million people that [04:59] are looking at my work everyday and saying, " Hey, [05:01] guys. Thanks. It's been fun ," you know, I just- it's [05:05] not- definitely not something on the radar now. [05:07] >>Thanks, Brandon. [05:08] >>Yeah. 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