Brandon Stanton's Empire of Empathy

Since launching humans of New York 12 years ago, the street photographer has pivoted his blog into a one-man philanthropy that raises millions of dollars for random people.

- By Lisa Miller. Photography by Beth Sacca

Brandon stanton was seated on a metal folding chair in the cavernous basement of an East Harlem café. He leaned forward and jabbed at the air with long, pale fingers. “I love the idea of juice! Juice, juice, juice!” he said. “I’m excited!”

It was a December afternoon, and across the small table sat the Diallo brothers, Rahim and Mohammed, their own excitement tempered with apprehension. The Diallos, who emigrated from Guinea to the U.S. as teenagers and put themselves through college while working in restaurants and driving cabs, are the owners of the Ginjan Café, a cozy spot across from the 125th Street Metro-North station that has struggled since the commuter hordes began mostly staying home. Stanton is the creator of Humans of New York, the popular publication that has given him more wealth, freedom, and influence than he, a man whose dreams have always been outsize, ever imagined. What started in 2010 as a quirky street-photography project has morphed into an uplifting social-media empire with nearly 30 million followers on Facebook and Instagram combined who visit to affirm, relate to, and weep for the ordinary people on display. Now Stanton was planning to feature the Diallos on his blog, and all three men were hoping that the publication would result in a bonanza of sales of the Diallos’ specialty ginger juice, Ginjan.