Archive for December, 2010

Aaron Huey a wonderful photojournalist who documented the life of the Lakota Indians on the Pine Ridge reservation. He was invited to speak at the TED conference this past year. I invite you to view his presentation. As we celebrate Christmas with family and enjoy all that has been given to us, let us not forget those who are in need.

Although Pine Ridge is the eighth-largest reservation in the United States, it is also the poorest. Unemployment on the reservation hovers between 80% and 90%, and 90% live below the federal poverty level. Adolescent suicide is four times the national average. Many of the families have no electricity, telephone, running water, or sewerage system. Many families use wood stoves to heat their homes. The population on Pine Ridge has among the shortest life expectancies of any group in the Western Hemisphere: approximately 47 years for males and 52 years for females. The infant mortality rate is five times the United States national average.

Want to help out. Visit Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation or visit the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Aaron Huey is a photojournalist who freelances regularly for Harper’s, The New Yorker, the Smithsonian magazine, the New York Times, GEO and dozens of others. He is also a masthead photographer for National Geographic Traveler.

Huey is widely known for his 3,349 mile, solo walk across America (with his dog Cosmo). The 2002 journey lasted 154 days. There was no media coverage. They walked every step. Following the walk Huey took a 2 1/2 year hiatus from shooting photos to build an artist in residence program (Hueyhaus), from the ground up, on the Pecos River east of Santa Fe.

Aaron now uses Seattle, WA, where he sits on the board of directors for the photographic non-profit Blue Earth Alliance, as a home base inbetween assignments.