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16th Sep 2015

PICTURE: This ‘Humans Of New York’ Post Has Sparked Massive Controversy Online

“This man was wise to hide his face.”

Her

“This man was wise to hide his face.”

A post by popular photography and life page Humans Of New York has sparked an enormous debate online this week.

The site, which is known for getting to the core of what life is like for every day people, posted a picture on Tuesday evening that has provoked a lot of controversy.

The photograph shows a person holding a cigar in their hand as they rest their arm on a bench and reads: “I don’t have anything personally against homeless people.”

"I don't have anything personally against homeless people. But I try to avoid getting into conversations with them. …

Posted by Humans of New York on Tuesday, September 15, 2015

“But I try to avoid getting into conversations with them. Because I may be walking later with one of my influential friends, and the homeless person may come up to me and start acting like we’re friends.

“And how’s that going to look? You’ve got to choose who you’re seen with. It’s a matter of optics.”

At the time of writing, the post had over 3,000 shares and a number of users took to the comments section to express their outrage at the person featured in the post.

One user Josiah Wolcott stated, “This man was wise to hide his face” a comment that has to date earned 54,843 ‘likes’ and 120 replies.

Cover image and details: Humans of New York/Facebook