"We make the compass that points to the future we want to live in," says Amplifier.org founder and celebrated National Geographic photographer, Aaron Huey. Aaron's deep photographic storytelling captures and honors his subjects — from war victims to rock climbers to indigenous peoples — with elegance and fearless sensitivity. At 27, Aaron walked across America alone for 154 days and 3349 miles, coast to coast, with his dog and a camera. "After 1000 miles of doing nothing but walking, eating, sleeping and talking to my dog and occasional strangers, I shook off the world. And when you shake off the world, you can shake off the anxieties and the fears and the hopes of that world," says Aaron. That walk led Aaron to spend years living with the Lakota Sioux in S. Dakota, documenting what he describes as the final chapter of a genocide. That experience became the TED talk, "America's native prisoners of war," in which Aaron "picked a side" to fight for justice for the Sioux. And that auspicious moment morphed into Aaron founding Amplifier.org. Amplifier builds art and media experiments to amplify the most important movements of our times. By activating a foundation of free and open source art and the unlimited possibilities within a human centered design process, Aaron has created a global phenomenon that creatively advocates for what is fair and right. We could not be more honored to welcome Aaron to Swan Dive, the next guest in our Wide Awakes collaboration.
Photo credit Dan Westergren
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