LIFE IN LOCKDOWN | Day 10: Follow Humans of NY’s #quarantinestories

If you aren’t a follower of Humans of New York (HONY) on social media, now is a good time to join its more than 28 million fans worldwide.

Brandon Stanton founded HONY in 2010. What started as a project to photograph 10,000 people on the streets of the Big Apple has evolved into hugely popular Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts, a storytelling blog, as well as a pair of best-selling books.

“Somewhere along the way, I began to interview my subjects in addition to photographing them. And alongside their portraits, I'd include quotes and short stories from their lives,” Stanton explains on his website.

On March 16, Stanton posted on Twitter, “The best way to save lives right now is social distancing. So I will not be continuing HONY as normal.” Instead he called for people across the globe to share happy stories for HONY’s #quarantinestories series.

The quarantine edition of HONY might not showcase the beautiful portraits Stanton normally shares, but they remain beautiful nonetheless.

Some of the posts have a twinge of sadness to them — they feel real, honest, relatable — but the prerequisite that people share stories that are essentially happy brings that sweet lift that avid followers have come to love and expect from HONY.

During this time when you might be feeling lonely or sad or slightly down in the dumps, these stories will make you feel that you’re not alone in the world and that, somehow, things will be OK in the end.

• You'll find HONY on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.