Perth Voice Interactive

CBD worker Jason Miller spends his lunch breaks documenting local people for his Humans of Perth project.

The 35-year-old IT administrator came here from New Mexico seven years ago and started taking pictures of Perth people soon after his arrival.

“I was walking through downtown and I was taken by the variety, the diverse culture of people,” he says. “I saw stories in peoples’ faces and their expressions, and I thought this was very beautiful.”

In those early days he says “I felt like a creep! I felt strange going up to them”.

Recently his wife gave him the book Humans of New York, by out-of-work stockbroker turxned photographer Brandon Stanton.

When he saw the pictures and the stories he realised it aligned with his own work, and it inspired him to start a local version.

“It was very captivating, I just had this strong feeling that I needed to create the Humans of Perth page after that.”

Since starting in January, his Humans of Perth page has attracted 2700 followers.

Mr Miller approaches strangers, starting up conversations and asking them about themselves. Within a couple of minutes people can reveal a lot about themselves.

“I want that feeling of being connected to other people, and Humans of Perth fulfills that.”

One 65-year-old homeless man told Mr Miller: “I have had four wishes and none of them have come true.”

“What were they?” Mr Miller asked. “I don’t remember anymore,” the man said. “I just live day by day.”

Other people talk about troubled home lives, and about relying on their grandad. One young couple, when asked about their future, differed wildly: The woman said she wanted to open an animal shelter, the man—studying law and commerce—said: “I’m interested in the process of law and love wearing a suit. Ultimately I want to be rich.”

The number of “noes” Mr Miller gets “depends on the day. If it’s a really hot day I get four out of 15.

“Sometimes I may go a couple of weeks without anybody saying no.”

Hailing from a techy family, the artistically-inclined IT man says “there’s been some research done about how we in western society are becoming more lonely because of our technology.

“Because we have the convenience of hiding behind our phones, our screens, so we don’t connect. I think there’s some loneliness to it, and I identified with that. That’s how I feel as well.

“I want that feeling of being connected to other people, and Humans of Perth fulfills that.”

Long-term he’s not certain where he wants to take it, but if it ever gets big enough to make money from he would only ever do it for charity. One of his first subjects was a 21-year-old woman going blind: she needed to raise money for surgery to halt her degenerative disease. After posting her image the fundraising target was met in a flash. If the project progresses, he wants to use it to help people like that.

“I don’t need the money, I’m fortunate I can do this on my lunchbreak.”

Mr Miller’s photos and stories are at humansofperth.tumblr.com or look for it on Facebook.

by DAVID BELL