'Humans of New York' photographer presents at University of Arkansas

Brandon Stanton, the photographer who made his hobby a worldwide internet phenomenon called Humans of New York (HONY), recently spoke at the student-sponsored Distinguished Lecture Series at the University of Arkansas.

Stanton was the first speaker this fall. His free public lecture was scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 3 in Bud Walton Arena.

In his presentation, Stanton explained how he transformed a small idea for a blog into a phenomenon with over 22.5 million Instagram and Facebook followers. He takes pictures of New Yorkers and shares their story in just a handful of sentences. As of today, he has also photographed and written two bestselling books.

As part of his presentation, Stanton answered questions when his lecture was finished. All questions could be tweeted throughout the event.

The Distinguished Lecture Series, a student-sponsored program, chooses speakers according to selections form faculty, students and staff. All of the events are financed by a student-approved fee, which the Programs Allocation Board collects. Previous speakers include Daymond John, Bill Nye and Abby Wambach.

The goal is to broaden the perspective of students by bringing new knowledge, basic and applied research, economic development and creative activity to the campus.