In Conversation with Lisa Kristine

Lisa Kristine is an internationally renowned humanitarian photographer. For more than 30 years she has documented indigenous peoples and social causes in more than 150 countries across six continents. Her work navigates the emotional landscapes of her subjects and their environments, driving awareness around causes such as human trafficking, indigenous wisdom, and global unity.

Lisa’s work has garnered widespread acclaim in the world of photography and the international humanitarian stage. She is the recipient of a Lucie Humanitarian Award, presented at Carnegie Hall, honoring the greatest achievements of master photographers. The Dalai Lama, the Queen Mother of Bhutan and Amnesty International, among others, have all endorsed her work.

David Clarke, former Head of Photography for the Tate Modern, describes Lisa’s arresting images of modern slavery as “a testament to truth and an insightful and inspiring body of evidence which should never and can never be denied.”

As a speaker and activist, Lisa regularly delivers keynotes at conferences, universities, museums, and corporations around the world, including the Vatican, the United Nations, Wisdom 2.0, and Thomson Reuters. Her riveting TED talk, Photos That Bear Witness to Modern Slavery, has been viewed nearly 3 million times.

Sir Richard Branson says of her photography: “Lisa’s images take us behind the veil to the atrocities of slavery. To respect human dignity for those from every walk of life, business leaders must embrace our unique role in upholding the precepts of equality, belonging and purpose.”

In 2017, Lisa founded a Human Thread Foundation, an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to incite action to eradicate human trafficking and to promote human dignity.

Lisa is on the Board of the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Stop Slavery Award.

She is a supporting partner in the United Nations’ International Labor Organization’s 50 For Freedom Campaign, catalyzing 50 countries to ratify the Protocol on Forced Labor. Her photographs inspired the Make a Stand Lemonade movement, which to date has reached more than 100 million people and has raised over one million dollars toward the eradication of slavery. Lisa is a founding member of GSN, Global Sustainability Network, dedicated to promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, a world without slavery and with decent work for all. Pope Francis inaugurated Lisa’s exhibition at the Vatican in 2019.

Lisa is the subject of four documentaries, and her work on slavery is featured in three films. SOLD, made by Oscar award-winning team Emma Thompson and Jeffrey Brown, includes a character inspired by Lisa and played by Gillian Anderson.