Xavier-Thomas Mendoza
Introduction: For this project, I wanted to emulate Brandon Stanton's work of Human's In New York. I always thought it was an amazing feat to be able to talk to strangers and get their personal stories just by talking to them. So during the spring break of my senior year in college, I talked to strangers during my trip and captured their story.
The main story is of a woman I met on the plane from Los Angeles to Phoenix, AZ. Then the individual stories, more similar to the original Humans of New York format, were other individuals I met during my trip, just not as in depth.
Emilia Fragendakis | Detroit, MI/Brooklyn, NY
Emilia Fragendakis (Detroit, MI/Brooklyn, NY) poses on the plane before take off at the Los Angeles International Airport on Mar. 3, 2019.
“When I was 6 months old, my parents gave me up, and I had to raised by my Yaya, my grandmother. I moved around living with different family members, checking in on my little brother who wasn’t well off at his situation, I’ve been working since I was 12. I’ve always been doing things, I’d have a job for a year then I’d fucking switch it up just because I’d get bored.”
Fragendakis shows off her feather tattoos on the plane in LAX. She said it represents her Native American culture. Fragendakis has a mixed ethnic background of Greek, Nigerian, Native American, and Egyptian.
“I’ve been a model since I was 18 and a piercer at around 19 or 20. Then I also do little odd jobs like working at a school with kids with autism. I wanted to work with kids with autism because my sister has autism. I’ve always loved kids, it’s always been a passion of mine. I don’t wanna have my own kids but I helped raise a lot of my little cousins and my little brother and it’s something that comes naturally to me. It’s fucking dope. I love working with these kids, I really do. It feels good to watch something you’re doing benefit something else. Like I taught a kid how to open a jar for the first time and he’s ten years old. But like little thing, he’ll be able to use that for the rest of his life and it feels good because you really are making a difference.”
Fragendakis shows off her right sleeve.
“I do know my parents. They’re trying to turn their lives around now and I’m trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and keep that faith. My dad has definitely changed a lot so I’m thankful for that. They grew up in Detroit and their parents were both military parents with a lot PTSD and they were huge alcoholics. So, my parents being raised by them, they inherited some of that trauma. So, I can’t really blame them for how they acted. They were both super abusive. My mom was super depressed and my dad was an abusive alcoholic and always being a tyrant. But, that’s kind of expected when they come from the same environment. At that point, you have to forgive them and hope they be better. They are trying to be better now, it took 21 years but they’re finally doing it.”
Fragendakis looks at street art in downtown Phoenix, AZ on Mar. 5, 2019.
“I have countless tattoo pieces. I have a jaguar on my right thigh. I think I have three spirit animals. One of them is a jaguar, the other ones are a monkey and a snake. A have a memorial piece for my Yaya, my grandmother, who raised me. Then, I have a memorial piece for a boyfriend that passed away that was my first tattoo. Those three are my favorites.”
Fragendakis shows her split tongue. “This is for Kundalini, the embodiment of the serpent. To me, this is a good way to honor my being, my ancestors, and being the embodiment of a serpent. They cut it with a scalpel, it was so fucking painful, you had to be awake for it but it’s worth it.”
“The reservation that my grandfather from my mom’s side is from, they dress like us, they order Nikes, they wear whatever they wanna wear. I don’t leave my house without my turquoise (rings) that’s my armor. And that’s also why I have my feather tattoos. It keeps my grounded with my culture. But, everyone at my reservations is like me and you. But there, they’re a bunch of alcoholics, they all do meth, they all do heroin, they all smoke weed, like they’re just normal fucking people. But also, the government has destroyed them, that’s why they’re all addicted to stuff. If someone was that ignorant about Native American reservations I would direct them to documentaries because there are a lot of problems. A lot of the reservations have water crises that have been around for a long time. They all have drug problems. They have land but there’s no jobs out there, so they’re all broke as hell and they’re bored. When you’re bored you just turn to drugs, that’s just human mentality is. They’re just fucked at this point.”
“We’re taking a week off and the weather here compared to Canada is amazing. We brought our child here last year but this is his first time in the beach. It’s really healthy for him to be out. He’s eating sand, wading in the ocean, and he’s happy.” Amit, Krishna, Sem | Canada | Feb. 28, 2019
“I came to America because my husband is American. After we were in the UK for a few years we decided it would be time to move back. We’ve been here for seven years. It’s great to work in the journalism field to see how everything works. I’ve been working at the LA times for two years now and before USC. It’s very interesting and different from working in London.” Nicola Franklin | London, England | LA Times | Feb. 28, 2019
“I definitely think embracing different lifestyles, different cultures, different conversations, and expanding and pushing me outside of my comfort zone really interests me and makes me feel most alive because I don’t wanna stay in a place of complacency. I wanna meet people, I wanna see environments where it pushes me grasp what’s in front of me. I think that’s the hardest thing: We’re always looking future oriented and being in the present is something that’s easier said than done, and that in itself, I think brings most joy, when I can find people or environments that want to experience that with me, as well.” Hannah Miller | San Diego, CA | Fremont Pacific University | Mar. 1, 2019
“Background in Marketing, marketing for bands and stuff. I got tired of working for the corporate world and I just got with a buddy and started working in film. We’ve been working on this project on the road for two months and five countries. Four months of pre-production. It’s been three years since I left the corporate world. My life right now is a grind, I love it. People think it’s easy and don’t see the grind and the hustle. If I gave a student advice, drop out of school. It’s not about the piece of paper or degree, it’s about what’s in your heart and the hustle that you have.” Adam Cantiello | Phoenix, AZ | Mar. 3, 2019
“One experience that changed me for the better was when I broke up with an ex-girlfriend and took my time to be alone, I learned to love myself more. To be more open about love in general and love as a concept. Back when I was with her, I took everything to heart and it would just hurt me. Now, anything that comes my way, I just accept it. It’s love you know? If you believe in love, you take everything as it is, the good the bad, the joy and the hurt, that’s one thing that I’ve learned from recently.” Brandon Chaithonh | Wichita, KS | Wichita State University | Mar. 9, 2019.