In Cosmos, the wise Carl Sagan said, “Human history can be viewed as a slowly dawning awareness that we are members of a larger group. Initially our loyalties were to ourselves and our immediate family, next, to bands of wandering hunter-gatherers, then to tribes, small settlements, city-states, nations. We have broadened the circle of those we love. [...] If we are to survive, our loyalties must be broadened further, to include the whole human community, the entire planet Earth.
Many of those who run the nations will find this idea unpleasant. They will fear the loss of power. We will hear much about treason and disloyalty. Rich nation-states will have to share their wealth with poor ones. But the choice, as H. G. Wells once said in a different context, is clearly the universe or nothing.” I was reminded of this amazing quote when I discovered my new favorite subreddit r/humanporn. With the motto, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” this subreddit is filled with striking images that impressively capture the essence of humanity.
See Also WHERE CHILDREN SLEEP: A DIVERSE WORLD OF HOMES
The images that populate r/humanporn take you all over the world and show the common threads of the human spirit. A few days before I discovered this subreddit, I watched the documentary Life in a Day which was a 90 minute compilation of clips from 80,000 lives and 4,500 hours of footage in a single day; the stunning photography on r/humanporn is like a still image version of this enlightening movie. If you have captured an image that fits the submission rules, please share it with the wonderful community of this captivating subreddit.
Above Image by driftermanifesto submitted on reddit by snail-in-the-shell
Below image by RJ Shaughnessy submitted by redditor OpticArousal
Below image by Viviane Sassen submitted by redditor Done8989
Buddhist monk praying for elderly man who died while waiting for a train submitted by redditor Kanadier
Image by Vladimir Zotov submitted by redditor Sahba
Golden Eagle Festival submitted by redditor *Underwear4Lunch
Protest in Dhaka, September 30, 2012 submitted by CatboyMac
Redditor Mehrlicht asked Reddit, “Can anyone identify the man I saw in Valencia, Spain in 2010? I got lost and found a crowd of people cheering and clapping for him. He was crying. They saw I had a camera and begged me to take pictures. I still have no idea what they were celebrating.” Reddit figured it out for him.
Stilt Fishermen in Sri Lanka by Steve McCurry submitted by redditor jspsfx
The Original Hipster by by Julia Chesky submitted by redditor jspsfx
Josie Slaughter by David Chancellor submitted by Redditor MindVirus
Tom Noytuna using a newly-installed public telephone box at Korlobidahdah, Australia by Penny Tweedie submitted by redditor crashin
An elderly Sri Lankan laborer pushes a cart by Eranga Jayawardena submitted by drednaught
A Chinese fisherman with his two cormorants by Glenn Karlsen submitted by kondrat1983
Asaro Mudmen submitted by DrSandwich
Kofi, a young boy who was rescued from slavery in a fishing village.
Woman with vitiligo by Ariel Taub submitted by redditor pogonotroph
If you liked this post make sure to check out this AMAZING documentary Life In A Day. Life In A Day is a historic film capturing for future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010. Executive produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald. Make sure to full screen this and watch it in HD!
Extraordinary photographs…a live document of the greatness of men. Paul Quintero (Zen Monk).