Humans of Edinburgh - One Story at a Time

I see a lot of young men these days are growing beards,

So I would like to declare that I've worn mine for years,

I used to shave it now and then to ward off paedophile fears...

But now i keep it nice and long to spare my wife from tears.

Ollie Buchanan's favourite thing about Humans of Edinburgh is definitely “speaking to strangers with a reason for doing so. It's something that you never have the chance to do without something like this”, he says, calling it “an honour to get an insight into people's lives through a photo and a quote”. And luckily, Humans of Edinburgh, the street photography project started by Buchanan and his friend and business partner Zishan Ashraf in January 2014, extends the honour of experiencing Edinburgh's streets 'one story at a time' to everyone eager to connect through social media. In short, Ashraf and Buchanan approach strangers on the streets of Edinburgh, and later choose a picture and an accompanying quote to share with a constantly growing fan base. Buchanan takes the pictures and picks quotes, and Ashraf is responsible for sharing and promoting the work on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. Buchanan admits, “I don't think my photography alone would be on nearly half as many likes without his skills in facebook marketing”- after all, know-how is key in the age of social media.

Having grown up together on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Buchanan, a student of English at Stirling University, and Ashraf, who runs the online delivery service IamHungover, have known each other since school. The project, inspired by Humans of New York, was initially started as a side project, but it certainly looks like it is here to stay. Whilst browsing street photography from all over the world is entertaining, it's just that little bit different when you recognise the streets and corners from your way to class or work, and the stories you read are those of people whose paths you might well have crossed before without knowing. Buchanan himself has a similar explanation for the unexpected success of Humans of Edinburgh. “People seem to have lost the attitude regarding art where posh, expensive looking things are attractive. Nowadays, I think people's primary reason for looking at art is to see something relatable”, he says; and quite clearly, people from Edinburgh do relate.

Ashraf and Buchanan offer a compelling contrast between busy street life and just taking a minute to stop and listen; between the anonymity of a capital city and intimate thoughts shared with a total stranger, and thousands more online. Buchanan explains, “It's a very personal process – sometimes, I feel like I'm delving too deep with questions I ask, but then I'm surprised and reassured by how open the person is in responding. I think there's something therapeutic in sharing something personal with a stranger”. Ashraf has just bought a new camera too, but until they will be able to split the photography, Buchanan is “more than happy” doing the photos by himself. Buchanan, a self-taught photographer, credits one of his teachers from school for sparking his passion for photography. “I will always remember him”, he says, “I don't think I'd love photography as much as I do had he not started me out.” He still has the camera his teacher convinced him to buy many years ago; it's the very camera he uses to capture the Humans of Edinburgh on film. Does he encounter difficulties when approaching people for their picture? “A lot of people said no to having their photos taken first, but once the project grew, people now generally know about it and are happy to be featured”. Unsurprisingly, “some people are often very reserved in their quotes”, but luckily, from art school students who can't come up with anything pretentious to say, non-couples, accidental pug-owners and even the occasional tram fan, it's the everyday aspect that makes Humans of Edinburgh so special. The project manages to put the human back in Edinburgh, a city with such breathtakingly beautiful scenery that it is easy to forget that it is populated by actual human beings with real stories to share.

One thing Buchanan would rather not reveal are his favourite photo locations in Edinburgh: “I have a few favourite spots to shoot in, but I like them being secret”. But he'll gladly tell us his favourite thing about Edinburgh, “Palymra, the Shawarma restaurant. It's really, really perfect”, and share a tip for budding portrait photographers: “Practicing portrait photography on people you're comfortable being around is the key to being good at it. Once you master it, it's like taking the same photo every time, except with different people.” The same photo, but with different people – that's Humans of Edinburgh in a nutshell for you. Follow their journey through everyone's favourite Gothic Capital city on Facebook, tumblr or Twitter.

Written for The Student, the UK's oldest student newspaper. 

Instagram your Fun, February

February has been pretty busy. I don't really mind (meaning, I actually love it), the more I have to do the more I get done (this is law), but it can get pretty intense at times. So I decided to make working a bit more fun and give Muji some of my money once again. My favourite paper for scribbling is finally back in my life. And it still absorbs the ink so incredibly well. The little things in life.

I love having the kitchen table to myself from time to time and excessively organising my life over lunch. I haven't been particularly exciting in the kitchen in 2014 so far, I tend to stick to what I know and like (and what I can make in 15 minutes or less ideally using a maximum of two pans). I want to start cooking new things again as soon as I get a little break from course work, and rediscover my passion for food blogs. I used to be obsessed. I don't understand what happened.

I started going to the gym in the morning and it actually works surprisingly well for me. It leaves me with a sense of accomplishment before 10 and my body feeling amazing, so everyone is a winner basically. Plus, these days, Edinburgh weather tends to be lovely in the morning and then turn really ugly, so it's nice to get a bit of sunshine occasionally. So far 8 is the earliest that I have managed to leave the house but I firmly believe that I could push this 15 minutes back still. Maybe. Soon. 

Who doesn't love a late breakfast? Brunch is the best thing. Apart from that, I have a few pretty exciting ideas. I've got one more assignment to hand in tomorrow, and then I can try and figure out how to best approach everything I've got planned out in my mind. 

Also, it was my dad's birthday on Saturday. My mum and dad are my heroes, so he's kind of a big deal. And not just because he's the best father any girl could wish for.

Because the internet, pt 2

It's no secret that I chose to spend the last weekend binge watching the newest House of Cards season, and I finished successfully on Sunday night not really knowing what to think or feel. Basically, I loved it, and I also hated it, because it is really disgusting, but disgustingly good too. It also broke my heart numerous times, but no big deal. I even got a Netflix account, which I should probably delete before my free trial runs out, but it is also very tempting to keep it considering all the fun that could be had. I see what you did there, Netflix. This is why I should never give in to the temptation of free Graze box trial subscriptions either, or, alternatively, this is why I can't have nice but only temporarily free things.

I don't want to spoil season two for anyone though, because everyone should watch it and hate to love it just like me and feel all dirty and morally corrupted because you are STILL looking Frank Underwood straight in the eye when he's talking into the camera. So instead, I will once again link you to some of the internet content I've stumbled upon - some of it related to House of Cards, some of it just very interesting really. Amanda Marcotte argues that HoC has gone "full feminist" in its new season, while Marin Cogan discussed "the psycho-sexual ordeal of reporting in Washington" as a political reporter for GQ a year ago (it's still a pretty good read today).

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about ‘Straight Talk’ the Princeton Mom Should Give to Young Men but if you take it as what it is (a response to dubious Valentine's Day Straight Talk for college girls), it's a pretty entertaining reality check. Also, for more higher education chat, this is a surprisingly useful list of 31 Things I’d Have Told Myself Before College. Most of these lists are silly sentimentally regretful musings (think Thought Catalog), but Medium does original quality content pretty well.

Speaking of Medium, I love reading about fitness online (this is no secret either), so I've enjoyed these little more or less uncomfortable truths (not that uncomfortable, but who can resist motivational posts), and I've been reading about circuit training too which I think might be my perfect workout. Getting really sweaty, but without the treadmill agony and crippling self-doubt, and the opportunity to include some serious jump rope fun and look like an idiot - what's there not to love? I also might be slightly enamoured with the guy running Nerdfitness.com. I'd go Paleo for you anytime, Steve Kamb, even though I love cheese so very much.

Instagram your Fun, January

I know Instagram posts are not particularly exciting, but I keep forgetting to take my camera with me and it's nice to have at least a few pictures to illustrate your words with, filtered or not. 

I'm doing a course on Youth Culture, Media and Society this semester and it is actually as fun as it sounds. Since my other courses are on Statistics respectively autonomy, liberty and political theory, it's nice to read about something which is both interesting but also very entertaining (not that the concept of freedom isn't entertaining, but on a somewhat different level). 

I've started watching House of Cards and I absolutely love it. I don't even mind that it isn't particularly romantic. I also need to start doing more creative writing. Creative writing is the only kind of writing that I know I will always do in German, no matter where I'll end up living. I don't quite know how to describe it but I feel like different languages give you access to different parts of yourself - I can do pretty much anything in English now, but I don't know if I can or want to tell stories in English, and at the same time I feel like I am losing little bits of German with every day that I don't live my life in German. I'm a very confused girl, linguistically. Apart from that, I'm fine though. 

My mum sent me a few things and also my all-time favourite German food. I wish I could say that I'm being responsible about this and saving it all, but I'm not. You beautiful little Schupfnudeln. They're fairly similar to Gnocchi though, so I think I'm safe in the long run.