Every day I scour the Web for photographic inspiration. Tonight I hit the motherlode when I happened upon a year-long series of photo essays by New York Times staffer Todd Heisler.

Titled “One in Eight Million,” Heisler’s series explores the lives of 54 New Yorkers who let him follow them for a week. So far, my favorite has been the interview with Michel Kramer-Metraux, who muses about the marital inequities that have made the tuxedo a timeless staple (“You have to make the groom special, interesting, up to the level of the girls. … The girls are ready two years before the wedding, and the boys come here two weeks before—reluctantly.”).

This is storytelling at its most human, most compelling level. Hats off to Mr. Heisler for an absolutely breathtaking—and truly extraordinary—record of 54 New Yorkers’ lives.