Meet the Humans of Temple capturing people through photos
‘These aren’t our stories, this isn’t about us’
With a student body of close to 40,000 from across the globe and a faculty to match and the countless business owners thriving on the university’s campus, Temple is like its own little town tucked away at the north end of Broad St.
Students live and learn within the streets of a neighborhood already richly rooted by generations of people and their families.
In 2013 the Humans of Temple University was a small page created on Facebook. It has now reached a following of more than 2,500 and features not only the Temple student body, but the staff as well as those that may just be cutting through campus on their way home from work.
We sat down with page’s current admins, Temple students themselves, Connor Roth and JD Mousley to get a little insight on the people and pictures the Humans of Temple post daily.
JD describes the Humans of Temple as an online blog which captures people through photos.
Both JD and Connor stressed the importance of Humans of Temple and not students of Temple because their page is not an online high school yearbook. Both want to feature more than the student body.
“Just because you’re not a Temple student doesn’t mean you don’t have a story to tell.”
Some pictures have included people like the head of Temple’s football program, Coach Matt Rhule, the infamous ‘Bell Tower Preacher,’ a security officer or two, some local children, and more recently an alum with a powerful story of how he copes with his Parkinson’s disease.
Bet he didn’t know his team would currently be 6-0 at the time this picture was taken.
Dapper babies are definitely Facebook approved.
Hearing people’s stories isn’t always easy.
“There was a moment where I had to put my camera up to my eye because he was making me like cry. An incredibly emotional man.” said JD.
You know you go to Temple when you’re almost run over by these little dudes on your way to class.
Bike cops and their jokes.
All the kids are callin’ it Diversity University.
“One of the more interesting moments was with the Bell Tower Preacher. I wanted to bring a kind of humanity to him. Everyone sees him as the crazy guy who yells outside but he has a family and is a substitute teacher,” Connor said.
Easily find the Humans of Temple page on Facebook and follow their new Instagram account @humansoftempleuni.
You’ll be amazed by some of the people you blindly walk by everyday and who knows maybe one of these guys will walk up to you one day, camera in hand interested in not only your experience as a Temple student but your overall human experience.
Other contributing photographers to the page are Freshman Shefa Ahsan and Senior Jeneni Nayagan.