I chose this picture because I find it is a perfect reflection of what a modern “flaneur” might see on a casual stroll around New York City. At first glance, there’s nothing special about the image shown in this picture. It’s the standard scene that everyone who has ever walked around Times Square will recognize. But it's that mundane aspect, perhaps, that makes this picture, and all others like it, fascinating within itself. Walking around, it’s so easy to be caught up in your own world or conversation or even your phone, but if you just look up and look around there is so much life being lived, so much individuality being expressed. There's undoubtedly a Baudelaire-esque element to the picture, who reminds us of this concept in his writing about crowds- "For the perfect flaneur, for the passionate spectator, it is an immense joy to set up house in the heart of the multitude, amid the ebb and flow of movement, in the midst of the fugitive and the infinite" ("The Painter of Modern Life"). If you look closely at this snapshot, there’s an older man pulling out money for his family, a woman taking a selfie, some boys looking at the huge advertisements, and so much more. It’s so interesting to think about the fact that, just like you, every single person you pass in the street for just a second, has their own story; their struggles and triumphs and friends and dreams. It really makes you realize how big this world is.

It’s very easy to view this concept through the eyes of Ian Bogost, who wrote the article in The Atlantic, It Doesn’t Matter If Anyone Exists or Not. Bogost writes that all of these strangers we pass momentarily, whether virtually or on the street, are no different than doctored photographs of faces of people who don’t exist. In this article, Bogost basically deems social interactions with strangers pointless, if not a total waste of time. I couldn’t disagree more. I titled this photo “Human #506,398”, because it’s easy to look at the world and strangers in a very impersonal, detached way. However, I’d like to suggest the value of taking the time to reflect on the vastness of the world around us and appreciate that each person has a story. If we teach ourselves to smile and genuinely thank the man holding the door for us, or to sympathize with the woman who just missed her bus, to pay attention to the little things, I think it will help us step out of our bubble of egocentric thinking and become people who can appreciate even the seemingly small blessings in our lives and not pay mind to the trivial inconveniences.