Photographer Lisa Kristine Talks About Her Photos of Modern Day Slavery

San Francisco-based photographer Lisa Kristine has spent the past 28 years documenting indigenous cultures in 70 countries on 6 continents around the world. More recently, she has been working with the organization Free the Slaves, using her photography to document the monstrosity that is modern day slavery.

The video above is a powerfully moving talk Kristine recently gave at TEDxMaui about the subject and her photography that is meant to make a difference.

Here are some startling facts about modern day slavery: the number of people currently in slavery is estimated to be upwards of 27 million — double the number of slaves taken from Africa during the transatlantic slave trade.

Entire families have become victims to generations of slavery for debts as low as $18. At the same time, slave owners are raking in a whopping $13 billion every year.

Kristine says she hopes her photos awaken a force in the people who see them — a force that sparks a fire that casts a light on the issue of modern day slavery.

You can find her images on her website or in this photo book. Proceeds from the book go to Free the Slaves.

(via TED)