The Internet can be a window into familiar spaces as you had never seen them.

In 2010, photographer Brandon Stanton had a simple idea that would become a big project: he would create a photographic census of New York City. Everyday, he took and posted pictures of New Yorkers on the street. “Humans of New York” soon became a larger project than anticipated; more than 500,000 people currently follow HONY on Facebook and on its website and witness, through Stanton’s eyes, the cultural diversity of New York and the stories of regular New Yorkers of all ages, occupations, backgrounds and life styles.

What if you do not live in New York? Inspired by HONY, many photographers took the initiative of portraying their cities or countries in ways that would transform the ideas and preconceptions that we may have about those places. In Pakistan, Khaula Jamil has made “Humans of Karachi” one of the most followed sites, with over 13,000 followers! Through daily postings by Jamil and weekly submissions from regular people who happen to capture a fun shot in Karachi and have an interesting story to go with it, “Humans of Karachi” shows us one of the most vibrant and culturally diverse cities of Asia.

Other “Humans of…” to follow? Take a look at the photographs of “Humans of Rotterdam” in the Netherlands, “Humanos de La Paz” in Bolivia, “Humans of Lebanon” or “Humans of India“!

The diverse “Humans of…” sites not only serve to capture the cultural diversity of these places. With little snippets, they tell us about the people who live in cities that we may know or that we may have never visited: insights into the lives of people against whom we might otherwise hold stereotypes. These photography projects tell us more about the human side of people, something that we might otherwise not have the chance to see.