Brandon Stanton is a local photographer here in New York. But he is more than just a photographer.
His work has always been some of the most interesting and beautiful visuals, as he takes photos of various people around the city. Previously, he has traveled to Iran and had done the same thing – he photographed the people in Iran, capturing life, culture, and the humanity of it all.
The website and the collection, according to Stanton, is a ‘photographic census‘ of his observations and interactions with New Yorkers, all through his camera lenses.
But recently, Stanton has created a lot of buzz, as he had been approached by Donna Karan New York (or DKNY). They were interested in acquiring some of his photos for their marketing campaigns around the world. But Stanton, in an effort to get more money, declined the initial offer and asked for a little more.
That counter was rejected by DKNY, and things got, should we say improper, from that point on.
Read Brandon’s statement below, followed by an update on DKNY’s reaction to their own gaffe.
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I am a street photographer in New York City. Several months ago, I was approached by a representative of DKNY who asked to purchase 300 of my photos to hang in their store windows “around the world.” They offered me $15,000. A friend in the industry told me that $50 per photo was not nearly enough to receive from a company with hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue. So I asked for more money. They said “no.”
Today, a fan sent me a photo from a DKNY store in Bangkok. The window is full of my photos. These photos were used without my knowledge, and without compensation.
I don’t want any money. But please SHARE this post if you think that DKNY should donate $100,000 on my behalf to the YMCA in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. That donation would sure help a lot of deserving kids go to summer camp. I’ll let you guys know if it happens.
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UPDATE: DKNY RESPONSE:
Since its founding in 1989, DKNY has been inspired by and incorporated authentic New York into its imagery. For our Spring 2013 store window visuals we decided to celebrate the city that is in our name by showcasing “Only in NYC” images. We have immense respect for Brandon Stanton aka Humans of New York and approached him to work with us on this visual program. He declined to participate in the project.
For the Spring 2013 windows program, we licensed and paid for photos from established photography service providers. However, it appears that inadvertently the store in Bangkok used an internal mock up containing some of Mr. Stanton’s images that was intended to merely show the direction of the spring visual program. We apologize for this error and are working to ensure that only the approved artwork is used.
DKNY has always supported the arts and we deeply regret this mistake. Accordingly, we are making a charitable donation of $25,000 to the YMCA in Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn in Mr. Stanton’s name.
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$25k will help a lot of kids at the YMCA. I know a lot of you would like to have seen the full $100k, but we are going to take them at their word that it was a mistake, and be happy that this one had a happy ending. Thanks so much for your support, everyone.
More recently, Stanton has written on his website that he would like to generate an additional $75,000. He has been asking for help to do so, and more information on how to help can be found here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/346367/
To see more of his work, visit Brandon’s website – HumansOfNewYork.com
