Student brings ‘Humans of UK’ to life

Integrated strategic communications junior Sally Evans interviews various students at University of Kentucky for a project in her multimedia class, with strong influence from Humans of New York photographer Brandon Stanton. “Sometimes it’s difficult coming up with questions to ask. I’ve thought of making a list of questions to go through when I can’t come up with some on my own. I start with ” Patterson Office Tower on Saturday, February 21, 2015. Photo by Marcus Dorsey

By Anne Halliwell

[email protected]

Students making their rounds may at some point encounter Sally Evans, the founder and sole staffer of the Humans of UK Facebook page, which began posting in mid-February.

The integrated strategic communications junior said that while the page began as part of a multimedia course project, she’s now looking for ways to continue and expand it.

“I love Humans of New York,” Evans said of the Facebook page, which has gained about 12 million likes since it began in 2010. “I read a lot of Brandon Stanton interviews (and) he basically said to one reporter that artists get inspiration from each other.”

With more than 1,400 likes on Monday, Evans’ page had already grown more than anticipated.

Evans’ expectations for the page were modest – a few likes from people she knew earlier in the project, maybe as many as two or three hundred likes by the semester’s end. The page had 700 in the first 24 hours. Evans said that as an RA, she knew that some of the people she photographed for the page, like elementary and special education junior Emily Phillips, had personal stories that she would like to delve into. Phillips, whose HOUK post details a series of tragedies culminating in a suicide attempt, had posted on Facebook about how thankful she was to have lived through the experience. “I knew (her story) was heart-wrenching,” Evans said. “That’s kind of why I wanted to share it with people.” Phillips saw the post before it went up and thought the experience was valuable to share. “People don’t like to talk about suicide,” Phillips offered. “Having people know I’ve been through that (as an RA), it might make me more approachable.” Evans said she hopes to see more discussion of relevant topics in the comments. “This page is for everyone, basically, but I do think serious topics should be brought up,” Evans said. “I think that the interaction is great, and that the best part of the page is that one day someone could see someone they know and hear something about them they never knew.” ISC lecturer and Kentucky Kernel photography advisor David Stephenson, who teaches the multimedia storytelling course, said he was impressed with the depth of Evans’ interviews. “She is spending time with people … getting to the root of something that is interesting to them that she also thinks will be interesting to others and to the community,” he said. Evans looks for people she doesn’t know and spends time talking to them before shooting pictures.

“It’s to establish a relationship before I take a picture,” she said. “Not just for respect, but for that connection.”

Evans said she is trying to find a small future team that prioritizes connection, so that the page can continue posting.

“I think (emotion is) why the posts are so interesting,” Evans said. “To see a picture and a quote of someone you don’t know, it makes you stop and think. At least that’s what Humans of New York did — or does — for me.”