Two students of the University of Massachusetts Boston created “Voices of UMass Boston” as a way to help students on campus to share their experiences and express themselves; whether its their beliefs or their dreams. 

 

The two creators of this project, who have asked to remain anonymous in this article, are said to have taken similar elements from Humans of New York as their major influence.

 

The format, when posting, is similar. A portrait is taken and a quote added from a brief conversation with the individual that, to the best of their ability, embodies that person.

 

When asked why they started “Voices of UMass Boston,” they stated the two things they enjoy doing are: talking to people and photography. They added that, “most places need this,” in reference to the different variants of “Voices of UMass Boston” that exist on the internet, “because it gives not only a platform for voices to be heard, and opportunities for the community to hear these voices, [it gives] an opportunity for the individual to be heard and for them to mean something to everyone. […] Every story, even if it is really specific, or voiced really specifically to that particular person, people pick out commonalities”.

 

They added that diversity on campus is also the main reason that propelled them to start this project. They added that they are motivated to help documenting the beauty behind UMB’s diversity by capturing and listening to students’ different experiences.

 

Their process is entirely dependent on the moment. Always prepared with a camera, they may set out to talk to people, or it simply happens that they meet someone. They stated that they have only been doing this, officially, since Sept. 8 of this year. They are still learning more every day about how to talk to people and capture portraits, as they revealed.

 

The questions are different most of the time, “where to start sometimes, in terms of the question [is] based on the students’ appearance” they said. “Just that one item can be a launching point”. Yet, as described, it is not just the appearance of a person, it can be an accent or a little detail that may draw them to interview someone.

 

Observing these little details aids the focus of their questions, “ultimately, you have a really short amount of time to sort of get to the heart of someone […] or try to get as close and really capture who they are”.

 

Their quickly growing following on Facebook attests to the very need to connect people on a personal level. With 555 likes and counting, in a matter of a few weeks their only goal is to share with as many people the “Voice of UMass Boston”.