Gavin Doran spends up to three hours a day walking around with a camera, talking to people he’s never met before.
Doran, a 22-year-old UF food and resource economics major, started a project named “Humans of Gainesville” in March of this year. The Facebook page, inspired by a similar project called “Humans of New York,” features photographs of people and something personal about them.
These snippets could range from a quote the person found inspiring to an anecdote about his or her life.
Doran begins his process by walking up to people he finds interesting. He said he could be compelled by anything, from what they are wearing to the expression on their faces.
He begins conversations with general questions like, “How are you today?” or “How are you liking UF?” He said he asks these questions to get people comfortable enough to eventually answer questions like “What’s something you’re going through right now?” or “What are some challenges you’re going through in life, and how are you overcoming them?”
He then asks them if they wouldn’t mind being photographed.
Doran said the most memorable encounter he’s had with someone he photographed was with a man he met while at Panera Bread.
It was St. Patrick’s Day of this year, and the man was dressed in green from head to toe. He said when he saw what the man was wearing, he knew he would make a good subject.
“I swear, he looked like a leprechaun,” Doran said, “a big, happy leprechaun.”
After Doran began a conversation with him, he found out that the man was in Gainesville to discuss with doctors about the possibility of receiving his third heart transplant. He said he sat with the man and talked for about two hours.
Doran said the common ground that “Humans of Gainesville” shares with “Humans of New York” is that people are open to speaking with him and sharing some of their life experiences.
After people finish telling him an anecdote that they might not have intended to be so personal, he often senses the relief they feel after reaching a level of intimacy with him.
“(We live in a culture where) nobody really dives deep into other people’s lives — it’s all surface level,” he said. “And so, it’s almost like when you walk up to people, and you ask them the deeper questions, a lot of the times, they’re just going to spill it out.”
If the person says they don’t want to be photographed or spoken to, he respects that, he said.
Doran said the most important thing about his process is the energy that he gives off, rather than what he says to start a conversation. Although he said he has gotten more comfortable approaching people with time, it wasn’t always something that came easily to him.
“I would try walking up to people, and I wasn’t getting the same results as I wanted,” he said. “I realized that was because of the energy level I was projecting. I’m at the point where I won’t go out and shoot unless I feel great.”
While “Humans of New York” portrays people of different ages and demographics, Doran said most of the people he photographs are students who are just beginning to “figure out their lives.”
“If you’re in New York, a lot of the times, you move to New York for a reason,” Doran said. “You wanted to get big dreams (in New York). Whereas here, people are still trying to figure their lives out — (this is) kind of a different angle that a lot of places don’t have.”
The energy in Gainesville, and the people are also more laid-back in comparison to those who live in New York, he said.
Brandon Stanton, a 30-year-old professional photographer, began “Humans of New York” in Summer 2010, according to its official Facebook page. Since then, he has approached more than 10,000 people in the streets of New York. Its Facebook page has garnered more than eight million likes and has been featured on other social networking sites, such as Twitter and Instagram.
In a YouTube video published by the University College Dublin in Ireland, Stanton spoke to a group of students and discussed the process he uses to approach random people. He also talked about the reasons why he believes the project has become so successful.
“It’s the taking of the atmosphere of strangeness and fear and “uncomfortable-ness” and turning that into an atmosphere of intimacy, where people feel comfortable to disclose in a very short amount of time,” Stanton told the students.
Doran said his mother recognized that he was artistic and interested in photography from an early age. After begging her to give him a camera for months, she finally did.
He said he has been taking pictures ever since.
Josh Greenberg, a 27-year-old former UF business student, was the subject of a “Humans of Gainesville” post published on April 11.
In the post, Greenberg was quoted as saying: “If I could speak to my 21 year old self, I would tell him to not overthink things, to embrace creativity a little more than logic, and I'm sure he would want to make sure I was still having fun and achieving balance at 26."
In an interview, Greenberg said he was willing to speak with Doran because he was already familiar with “Humans of New York.”
“(When Gavin approached him about “Humans of Gainesville”) I thought it was a fantastic idea,” Greenberg said. “I think the thing I like about it the most is that, to me, Gainesville has so many great, untold stories.”
