Brandon Stanton has spent over a decade persuading strangers to share their deepest vulnerabilities for his wildly popular "Humans of New York" photography project. But the man behind the camera rarely opens up about his own struggles.

In a recent interview, Stanton revealed a troubled past that shaped his work. At 19, he flunked out of college and battled drug addiction, specifically to Adderall.

"I flunked outta college. I was a drug addict, very much so. And I kind of hit rock bottom.... I was working as a host at Applebee's, watching all my other friends go to college and just feeling very much like a failure," said Stanton.

After getting clean, Stanton landed a finance job in Chicago. But when he was fired at 26, the loss of identity proved devastating.

"When I got that job, I clu

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