Firefighters use a rope to rescue a group of people stranded in a flooded street on July 12, 2018 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province of China. A strong storm has hit many parts of southwest China's Sichuan Province since Monday, causing landslides and floods in the region. (Photo by Wang Hongqiang/Chengdu Economic Daily/VCG)

New York City is populated with millions of people that each serve as an essential piece of the city's eclectic pie. The Big Apple's offering of unique and diverse individuals is arguably unmatched. We always hear about what a melting pot this immense metropolis is with its endless supply of quirky characters and the ongoing photo series known as Humans of New York proves it.

Annelie Vandendael was born in Belgium and grew up in the South of France. After college she came back to Belgium to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Kask) in Genth where she got a master degree in Photography; Images have always been a passion for her. After finishing her studies, she was invited to “La Fabrica”, the Benetton Communication and Research Center in Treviso, Italy. She was also nominated for the photo academy Award in the Netherlands and won the Award of the Roorda Agency, Amsterdam. (Photo by Annelie Vandendael)

Two young women huddle up in their coats as they brave the cold in Newcastle, England on February 1, 2019. Women in skimpy dresses and men in t-shirts enjoyed a drink and a dance as they celebrated January finally being over. (Photo by Will Walker/North News and Pictures)

Shoes worn by cosplayer dressed as Elizabeth Goddess during the Otamatsuri Anime x Manga convention held in Nairobi, Kenya on August 24, 2023. (Photo by Sarah Waiswa/The Guardian)

Magbola Alhadi, 20, and her three children pose for a portrait in Jamam refugee camp in Maban County, South Sudan on August 11th, 2012. Magboola and her family weathered aerial bombing raids for several months, but decided it was time to leave their village of Bofe the night that soldiers arrived and opened fire. With her three children, she travelled for 12 days from Bofe to the town of El Fudj, on the South Sudanese border. The most important thing that Magboola was able to bring with her is the saucepan she holds in this photograph. It wasn't the largest pot that she had in Bofe, but it was small enough she could travel with it, yet big enough to cook sorghum for herself and her three daughters (from left: Aduna Omar, 6, Halima Omar, 4, and Arfa Omar, 2) during their journey. (Photo by Brian Sokol/Panos Pictures)

People walk down a makeshift modeling runway as they take a break from marching during the Brooklyn Liberation's Protect Trans Youth event on June 13, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough in New York City. Brooklyn Liberation organized a march and rally as an emergency action response to legislation to restrict trans rights across 34 states. According to the Human Rights Campaign, there have been over 250 bills introduced in state legislatures aimed at the LGBTQ community in 2021. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

A visitor interacts with deer at Nara Park in Nara on January 27, 2025. As peckish deer chase delighted tourists in Japan's temple-dotted Nara Park, a quiet but dedicated team of litter-pickers patrols the stone paths, collecting plastic waste that threatens the animals' health. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)