“I went to a normal primary school so I was the only kid in a wheelchair. My parents thought it would be an easy way for me to integrate into society, instead I barely had any friends. I kept being that one guy in a wheelchair. Now I’m in a school that has a mixed program. Half of our school has a disability and the other half doesn’t. It’s so diverse that we barely notice our disabilities.”
“What is your relationship exactly?”
“We are classmates.. and friends who smoke together during lunch breaks.”

“My girlfriend suggested I should try wearing a color. I picked out a purple Hugo Boss suit and it just felt right. Now the only item in my closet that isn’t purple, is a black raincoat. I wore it a few days ago but I wasn’t really feeling it..”
“Why is that?”
“I guess because black is just so black..”

“When I travel, I always hitchhike. Now I’m about to hitchhike to Rotterdam.”
“What have you learned from hitchhiking?”
“That there are so much more friendly people in this world than you would expect.”

Everyone has dreams. Once in awhile dreams come true and when they do, I always imagined it looked something like this.

It has never been about the amount of likes.

‘Humans of Amsterdam’ was born out of passion for photography, storytelling and a special city called Amsterdam.
Three years have passed, and even though it has never been about the amount likes, it’s amazing to see how many warm-hearted souls are actively part of this community.
I started this journey inspired by pages such as ‘Humans of New York’ and ‘Humans of Tel Aviv’ not really knowing what I was getting myself into.
This journey has taught me more than probably any educational institution could have ever done. I met so many wonderful people and had the honor to capture their stories.
The most important lesson I have learned is that story telling can save lives. It is probably the most powerful and genuine tool there is to another human being’s heart.
I’m also very proud to announce that next week I will open my first Humans of Amsterdam Exhibition. About 80 photo’s and stories will be up from the 11th of September until the 30th of November in the public Library in Amsterdam near the Central Station. The entrance is free. In the next few months I will personally give a few tours through the Exhibition. It would be great to be finally able meet some of you there!

At the moment, no exact dates have been set yet but if you are interested to be a part of a tour, please send me an email to: humansofamsterdam@gmail.com subject: Humans of Amsterdam Exhibition tour.

For now, I really want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart,
@debrabarraud