Humans of Dublin

If you want to understand the world of humans around you, start with empathy!

“Step out of your tiny little world and step into a tiny little world of somebody else, and do it again and again and again, and suddenly all these tiny little worlds come together in this complex web and they build a big complex world, and suddenly without realizing it you see the world differently. Everything has changed. Everything in your life is changed, and that’s of course what is all about, attend to other lives, other visions, listen to other people and lighten ourselves”
Sam Richards (TEDtalks)

Hi! My name is Peter Varga, I’m a photographer from Budapest, Hungary. I moved to Dublin nine years ago, and I guess it feels like this city is my home now.
The whole idea of the page started out as a photography project inspired by Brandon Stanton of Humans of New York.

I have to say, almost instantly I fell in love with it. At first, it was very challenging to approach random strangers on the street. I would go around and around the same block until I gathered the courage to approach someone. But after a while, it became more comfortable and now it's second nature. There are days when I straight away do a great interview, and I get a beautiful portrait with it, and I just can’t wait to get home and post it. Through this I've met so many lovely humans and I've had the honour of listening to their wonderful stories. I don’t need to walk hours for a great story, there are so many around us and we walk by them every day not knowing. I’d like to be the person who opens some of these stories for YOU.

You, the awesome audience, are the best part of this, who give me constant feedback with your likes and comments, which supports my growth in photography and the way I take out the best stories behind the portraits.

And let’s not forget my greatest help and friend, the amazing quote editor and proof-reader of the page. She is the one who makes sure whatever goes online will make sense to others, and not just to me:

"Hi, my name is Eimear Phelan! My passion is writing so after I ran away from the circus to be a journalist I realised I needed something to write about. So I set about having adventures; sailing on a tall ship, visiting the pyramids, staying in a squat and connecting with people. Teaching English in Spain has made me into the big grammar nerd that everyone needs in their life. Working with HOD means connecting with personal stories of people who cross our paths every day and seeing the world through other people’s eyes. Find me on @BlondeEimear."

I hope you love and enjoy the page and I will keep showing Dublin to you through my lens.

Peter Varga // HOD