Andrew Irving, an anthropologist at the University of Manchester, created a series of videos that reveals the inner dialogue of a number of New York City strangers walking the streets. The project started when Irving was completing his PhD and he recorded the thoughts of terminally ill patients, capturing their inner voice as they approached the end of their lives. He took the same concept to the city, asking strangers to wear a digital recorder while they walked through NYC neighborhoods and spoke their thoughts aloud. He followed closely behind with a camera.
New York Stories: The Lives of Other Citizens is a compelling study of individual stream of consciousness. One woman named Meredith voices an emotional tale about her friend who has cancer while she searches for Staples and complains about the crowded sidewalks. Other stranger's thoughts are more abstract, and some quite philosophical for a walk downtown. Irving has tapped into our fascination with the private lives of those around us, and we could honestly watch these videos for hours. Check out the first clip, and then visit Scientific American for more.
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