Humans of New York Photographs the 2016 Met Gala Inline
Photographed by Brandon Stanton1/10“I started failing all my classes when I was 20, dropped out of college, hitchhiked around a little bit, and ended up at a Buddhist monastery for six years. My relationship with my teacher was very worshipful at first. He taught me everything: how to meditate, how to work, how to teach. He seemed to know everything. And he seemed to know more about me than I knew myself. So I completely depended upon him. Then he had a sex scandal. And when that happened, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t lean on him anymore. So I moved to the city and got my bachelor’s degree at City College. I’m glad for my time at the monastery. It taught me discipline. But I don’t think I’ll ever be idolizing anyone again.”
Photographed by Brandon Stanton2/10“I’m a fashion associate. I come from a family of doctors and lawyers, so I do feel frivolous at times. Fashion is a luxury. I know that everyone gets dressed in the morning, so clothing is a necessity, but a dress like this is not even for the one percent—it’s for the .001 percent. But there’s something magical about that. When I was a little girl, I put pictures of these dresses on my bedroom wall. It’s what I aspired to. And this dress was somebody’s dream and vision. Fifty artisans spent thousands of hours making this. That doesn’t seem frivolous to me. That seems like servitude and artistry. It’s people doing what they love.”
Photographed by Brandon Stanton3/10“I grew up in India where a woman got married, settled down, and kept a house. I never thought I’d do anything different. I lived a very sheltered existence. I went to a British school, then a women’s college, and then I met my husband. I assumed that I’d be taken care of for the rest of my life. But shortly after we came to America, my husband slipped into a coma and lingered for another 15 years. We had a small child at the time. I’d never worked before, except for a part-time job in the bookshop at the Met. I was a very quiet person. And suddenly I had to make all of the decisions. I had to get a full-time job. It was empowering. I learned that I could be fearless, I could be angry, and I could fight. These were three things that I’d never had to do before. I was thinking recently that if my husband had lived, he might not have liked who I’ve become.”
Photographed by Brandon Stanton4/10
Photographed by Brandon Stanton5/10“I once sheared 180 sheep in a single day.”
