Correction 4/5: Due to an editing error, an earlier headline of this story referred to "Humans at Elon." The photography project is "Humans of Elon." The Pendulum regrets the error.
A person, a picture and a quote. These are the elements of “Humans of Elon,” a photo collection of people on Elon University’s campus started and run by freshmen Ben Driscoll and Mercedes Kent.
The founders decided to collaborate on the project before fall classes started. While most freshmen were frantically gathering dorm and school supplies, these two were beginning a project to document the people of their new campus.
The Leadership Fellows first met at a retreat for their cohort, where they instantly connected and decided to make a name for themselves on campus.
“I actually did a ‘Humans’ of my high school, and I thought, ‘Why don’t we have this here?’” Driscoll, who is a member of The Pendulum’s PR team, said. “I proposed the idea to [Mercedes], and she loved the idea, so we started it.”
The two have different academic interests and their talents complement each other. Driscoll, a strategic communications major, interviews the subjects, while Kent, a biology major, photographs them.
“I was thinking of ways to exemplify her photography because I think it’s excellent,” Driscoll said.
The “Humans of Elon” photo collection is the perfect place to do just that.
The project is based on “Humans of New York,” a photography project started by Brandon Stanton in 2010 that has more than 6,000 portraits and 12 million likes on Facebook. Driscoll said that both “Humans” are similar in that the projects aim to capture the diverse set of people each area encompasses: one a city, the other a campus.
“Our intent is to exemplify the Elon campus and community, whether that be staff, students, teachers — anyone that’s on campus, really,” Driscoll said. “My favorite one was this guy — he’s from Haiti. We were expecting to ask him a simple question, and he had this really touching quote.”
His name is Elisson Adrien, a 23-year-old sophomore.
“I’ve always wanted to be a pediatrician and work with kids because I have unfortunately seen a large amount of kids die,” he told “Humans.” “I think that a lot of kids could have been cured, but there are very few pediatricians in Haiti. I want to be able to help people.”
“There are so many interesting stories behind all the faces of Elon,” Kent said. “I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from all the people we meet.”
The pair typically spends a few hours finding people to document and ends up posting only seven or eight pictures at a time. Currently, they have 33 posts and have accumulated 501 followers on their Instagram page and more than 1,200 likes on Facebook.
“I would really like to reach out and diversify ‘Humans’ even more,” Kent said. “We have done a few faculty and staff members, but I would like to do more.”
For those looking to be in the spotlight, the “Humans of Elon” selection process has no method.
“We go around to all of campus, whether it be going to Acorn and Oak House or going into Irazu, KOBC, seeing people in those hammocks — anything,” Driscoll said. “We go to people who seem approachable.”
While Driscoll and Kent remain focused on steadily gaining the support of the community, they also have a bucket list in mind for this project: targeting the “celebrities” of Elon.
“We would really like to get a more candid photo of President Lambert, maybe at graduation, convocation or another event this year,” Kent said.
The team is also discussing promoting different organizations, as long as they fit into the original goal of the project: sharing stories.
“I’ve talked to my friends who are a part of a few different organizations, but we don’t want to force publicizing these different organizations,” Driscoll said. “We want to work on a way to publicize these organizations while still maintaining integrity of the ‘Humans’ template.”
For now, Driscoll and Kent are focused on maintaining a strong base and expanding their project.
“My favorite moment, besides taking the pictures, was when our Facebook page hit 1,000 likes.” Kent said. “I remember looking at Ben and saying, ‘Look we made it, we’re real!’ It was such a confidence boost to keep going and that the Elon community was interested and would support this photography project.”
Keep up with “Humans at Elon” by liking them on Facebook or following them on Instagram: @HumansofElonUniversity.