The amateur photographer behind Humans of Singapore

Consultant turned strategist Shitij Nigam is the amateur photographer behind the hugely popular Humans of Singapore Facebook page, a local take on the famous HONY phenomenon that runs portraits and short stories of Singaporeans from all walks of life. From his first viral story about a single mother saddled with three jobs to how Humans of Singapore initially started as a joke, he tells us how the project has changed is perspective on being human.

I used to be a consultant for about three years, and I recently joined YouTube as part of their Strategy team in Singapore. Overall, my work is mostly analytical and data-driven. 

In 2008, I came to Singapore from New Delhi for my undergraduate studies at Singapore Management University and I’ve been here since.

In general, life in Singapore has been rather comfortable and I’m fairly happy with what it has to offer. There’s obviously the aspect of not having a family here which I certainly miss, but apart from that, I’m quite satisfied.

Humans of Singapore started off as a joke. A friend of mine and I were browsing Humans of New York and she suggested that I should totally start one for Singapore as well. So I took a picture of another friend, put it up on Facebook, and that was it!

But I sometimes do not have enough time to spend on the project, since I do this only on weekends and work is quite busy. So there are small periods where the website isn’t as busy or regular as I’d like it to be—which is something I tend to worry about every now and then. 

I started by being relatively selective in choosing who to photograph, but now I just try to go for whoever catches my eye. There’s no prescribed formula, because the idea behind the whole project is that everyone has a story to share anyway.

Sometimes people have stories which they would not like to disclose, sometimes people just do not like their pictures taken, or they may be just having a bad day. The ratio of rejections to acceptances is about 40-60%. But it’s a healthy mix and it’s much better than what I’d started with.

The first viral story was Fel, the single mother juggling three jobs and who has invested all her money in her jewelry-making business, has always stood out for obvious reasons. It was the first time I kept in touch with someone whom I pictured in Humans of Singapore. It almost set off the page as a launchpad for people to help each other in some small way or another. And that’s why it stands out for so many reasons and not just one. At first when the story became popular, I thought it would be a one-off—but it’s not.

When it comes to getting strangers to share personal stories about themselves, I’d like to think that it is a combination of my stunning personality and good looks. But it’s about building trust and comfort and breaking it down slowly for someone, instead of suddenly peppering them with questions. You first ask for a picture and see if they’re comfortable with the idea of it. Then you show them the picture and then ask them some generic questions to see how they respond, and so on.

As long as you let them know that things are perfectly under their control, people are happy and willing to share their stories. Plus I think a large part of us loves to share our stories. We’re our own story’s protagonist anyway, and if a stranger walks up to you and asks you to narrate it, you’d love to sit down with them too, right?

The process of taking photographs is fantastic, but what’s even better is the way people respond to these pictures. I love that element of it, and I feel like it helps me learn a thing or two about myself as well. Strangers step in and defend other strangers, and people offer help in some small way or the other. And I guess those little acts have provided me with truckloads of perspective into how people think and interpret people around them. And that’s something which I don’t think I could’ve received anywhere else.