A Conversation with Humans of Amsterdam

One of the motivations for building TapeWrite was to have conversations with inspiring people and to be able to share them with the World. For this first interview, I visited Debra Barraud, the human behind the lens of Humans of Amsterdam.

• 00:00
  

  Debra Barraud is the human behind Humans of Amsterdam, one of the most successful blogs of  The Netherlands with over 350 thousand followers. She roams the streets of Amsterdam searching for interesting people to portrait, both with pictures and words.
  

  
  

  Debra knew from childhood she was not a good fit for the school system, but this was never a problem for her parents. His father recognised her potential and encouraged her to be herself instead of trying to make her fit into a normal education.

• 02:12
  As kids we never had a lot of toys, but we built our own. I learnt that if you don't have something you can make it.
• 02:51
  

  Contrary to what most people would believe, Debra did not have a background as a photographer when she started Humans of Amsterdam. In fact, she learned how to use a DSLR camera by creating the blog. What she had is a drive for documenting her life with pictures. 

  Now everyone can buy a camera and call themselves a photographer, but Debra says the eye is more important than the camera: "you have to find your niche. If you do something edgy and different, there will be people supporting you".
  

• 06:03
  I discovered the power of storytelling in Israel and it inspired me to start HoA: View Image
  
• 09:20
  

  Inspired by a work experience with an NGO in Israel, Debra started her blog. In retrospective, she sees this period as a combination of being naive about the challenge, but focused on an idea. 

  She just went on the street one day with a clear goal in mind and an "I'll figure it out" attitude. Learning first and then doing does not work for her. 

  
  

• 11:18
  If I had stopped after the first person I approached said "no" to me, the whole project would not have existed.
• 13:19
  

  Even if HoA is really big today, it actually took one year to get to 10.000 followers and only afterwards it exploded to the whooping 357.000 they have today.
  

  
  

  Debra gets asked constantly how does one get so many followers, to which she responds:

  "I don't know. I just work hard and make sure there is always content. I have come to the conclusion that the most important thing is the blog, even if there are side projects which could be more lucrative".

  
  

• 16:14
  

  Making a living as a blogger is hard unless you have a fashion or lifestyle blog and you can partner with brands. Debra knew she would not have any sponsoring for the kind of work she does but she is happy that way:

  "We live in a time when people think content is free. When I created this, I was not even thinking about money. I just wanted to create something I believe in."

  Currently, she gets her income from side projects and spin-offs, such as her column in Metro, a Dutch newspaper.
  

• 18:38
  I would like to publish a book, but I haven't yet found a publisher to work with.
• 20:34
  

  When asked how to experience Amsterdam, Debra says the best way is to quickly get away from the canal area, since -although beautiful- it is way too crowded.
  

  "The cool part and fun things are not there. I would recommend visiting other neighbourhoods like Oud West or perhaps Oost, where there is a great place to hang out called Roest. It is the kind of place where artists hang out and there is a little beach they have created. "

  
  

• 21:30
  Roest, a cool place to hang out away from tourist crowds: View Image
  
• 21:51
  

  We could not avoid discussing food in this conversation. Debra's favourite place is Spang Makandra, a tiny Surinamese. She recommends trying the wide offer of exotic food in Amsterdam: Surinamese, Indonesian, Vietnamese...

  I had to ask her where does one eat good Dutch food and how does that actually look like?

  "We have this culture of eating Dutch food at home and going out for something exotic, so, if you want Dutch food, you need local friends who cook for you. I love herring and kroket ".

  
  

• 23:31
  

  Asked about her professional plans besides the blog, Debra says she prefers to focus on the power of HoA as an agent of change.

  She likes to use Humans of Amsterdam for promoting good causes, such as helping a lady who started buying winter coats for refugees arriving to Amsterdam. 

  "It is crazy to have two thousand people with no winter coats. It is going to get cold".

  Learning new tools for storytelling is something she is working on. Perhaps she will produce tapes?
  

  
  

• 26:21
  I would not be where I am without my parents. As a kid, the most important thing you need is self esteem
• 27:14
  

  We end the conversation discussing how we live in an era of infinite access to information. Now the challenge is to focus on something:

  "I am not a naturally focused person. For me, having worked on HoA for three years is quite an accomplishment. What I have learnt in the process is that the key for success is a combination of hard work and focus".

  
  

  This was an inspiring conversation for me and I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks, Debra, and good luck with Humans of Amsterdam!