Humans of Detroit Tells The Stories Of Our City Through Our People

Humans of New York was a passion project created by Brandon Stanton, with the original goal of trying to take a picture of everybody he could in New York, and create a exhaustive catalogue of photo portraits. What happened was that he began discovering their stories during the process and the portraits, coupled with quotes created the content for what became a wildly popular blog.

Inspired by Stanton’s project, a similar project called Humans of Detroit surfaced in 2013. It’s a collective of photographers who are posting portraits of Detroiters. In both projects the photo portraits of people tell stories, and you can use your imagination to fill in the blanks. People are interesting wherever you go, and this is a simple concept that works well in the Motor City.

According the their website:

“Humans of Detroit is meant to spread a positive light on the city and the people who call it home. Through photography and human interaction we give insight to the dynamic inhabitants of Detroit. This city has such a rich history and culture that is often overlooked in the current National and International media. We here at HoD plan to reverse that – one human at a time.”

Detroit certainly has plenty of interesting folks all over the place. Take a look below at ten portraits we chose from Humans of Detroit, and make sure to follow them on instagram and facebook to see who you will meet next. You can follow them on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or their website.

Dally in the Alley 2013 “We just got married and we’re headed over to dally. Wouldn’t miss it for anything.” Photo Cred: Noura Ballout

A photo posted by Humans of Detroit (@humansofdetroit) on Sep 9, 2014 at 8:50am PDT

Seen at the Detroit African World Festival.

A photo posted by Humans of Detroit (@humansofdetroit) on Aug 8, 2014 at 7:52am PDT

“I have four children and I’m a care giver. My car just broke down today, so that’s why I’m bussing it.” What’s the best part about being a mother? The love, the unconditional love that they show. Now that they’re grown, they still give me unconditional love. They don’t care if I scream, cuss, fuss. They don’t care, it’s still unconditional.”

A photo posted by Humans of Detroit (@humansofdetroit) on Jul 7, 2014 at 7:10pm PDT

Got any words of wisdom you’d like to share? “You better call ahead… For the pizza, that is.”

A photo posted by Humans of Detroit (@humansofdetroit) on Jul 7, 2014 at 8:53pm PDT

Are these your kids? “Sí” What has changed since you’ve had your kids? “I feel not beautiful” Photo Cred: Noura Ballout

A photo posted by Humans of Detroit (@humansofdetroit) on Jul 7, 2014 at 7:44pm PDT

“We’ve been here for 30 thirty years — raised 5 kids here. Right now we’re taking our piece of Detroit and taking care of it.” What’s the best part about living here? “The people and the diversity. The people because of the city and the way that it is. Our friends in the suburbs don’t know their neighbors, or need to rely on their neighbors, but we need to rely on ours. Because when you come home from church Sunday morning and your car is on blocks, with all of the tires stolen, and you need to be somewhere, your neighbors say ‘hey, take my van.’ Our friends in the burbs don’t have that, and to me that’s the best part.”

A photo posted by Humans of Detroit (@humansofdetroit) on Jul 7, 2014 at 5:36pm PDT

“We met at a Starbucks while I was in Spain for school. I don’t remember who said ‘hello’ first, but now we stay in contact by using Skype and WhatsApp.” What’s the biggest difference between where you lived in Spain and Detroit? “Everything is spread out here. In Spain it is condensed. The first time I came to visit it was over the Christmas holiday. I couldn’t believe the coldness. It never gets that cold in Spain.”

A photo posted by Humans of Detroit (@humansofdetroit) on Jul 7, 2014 at 5:25pm PDT

“Be true to yourself and be awesome to other people. We as a people have to do that, okay?”

A photo posted by Humans of Detroit (@humansofdetroit) on Jul 7, 2014 at 2:25pm PDT

“When they ask you who’s in that picture, you tell them that’s Mr. Detroit.” www.humansofdetroit.com

A photo posted by Humans of Detroit (@humansofdetroit) on Jul 7, 2014 at 1:33pm PDT