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How to use photojournalism for a social cause?

While delivering an impactful talk at Ted Talk in Maui, Lisa Kristine, who documents indigenous cultures and social causes through her photography, throws focus on modern day slavery. Using her art of photography to fight for social justice, Lisa talks about her several visits she made to various places to document the state of the slaves, and it goes without saying that it was appalling.

In 2009, at Vancouver peace summit, Lisa met with a volunteer from the ‘Free the Slaves’ organization, an NGO dedicated to eradicating modern day slavery. A conversation between the two led Lisa to action her art towards the subject of modern day slavery. She was shaken up at the lack of awareness of such a painful matter and hence thought it is imperative to bring the stories of these shattered lives to notice. From there on she decided to join hands with the NGO and take things forward in her capacity. With a reading of more than 27 million people being enslaved in the world today, the industry generates a profit of over 13 billion dollars world wide, each year with the goods procured or produced with their help.

Lisa goes onto narrate the stories of each of her experiences. She walks us through lives of the people in areas of India like pockets of Nepal, certain places in Uttar Pradesh, discussing the enormous amount of ill-treatment, hostile working conditions, lack of consideration for health and hygiene, workers working relentlessly without pay or a marginal pay,etc. Lisa highlights their work routine for survival through her photographs, that sticks a bill of their emotions, sharp enough to invoke a stroke of action.

Lisa tried to encapsulate their sense of being completely isolated from freedom through her series of pictures. On her visit to Ghana. Lisa discovered that the kids were trafficked to catch fish and work for endless hours on the lake even though they did not know how to swim. Visiting the regions of gold mining in Ghana, brought Lisa face to face with the shocking death-pool of mercury that they were subjected to work in. Trying to document the people through these atrocities, solidified Lisa’s drive to make sure their voices and her images, bring the community together to help fight this cause.

The determination hoping to be free one day through the help of media and activists, left Lisa in complete awe. With a purpose to illuminate such stories, people like Lisa, work to usher the beast of the bondage out of its shadows.