Aaron Huey-TED Talk: Alexander Kreher

With a jittery and sad voice, Aaron Huey quotes the holy man Black Elk: "I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud and was buried in the blizzard: A people's dream died there, and it was a beautiful dream." 

This was such a strong moment, one can feel how important this project is for Huey. To see a photographer being so passionated, genuinely invested and deeply attached to his project is a beautiful and inspiring moment to me!

But most importantly, it shows how a person with a talent, a passion and an opinion can be heard by many people. Most people like looking at good photographs, and/or listening to inspirational talks. If you pair this element with telling a story that actually opens peoples eyes and informs them about a topic that might not be as known, then you can impact the society so much more. Huey's Ted Talk has been viewed 819,673 times only on the TED website, 61,514 times on youtube and who know how often shared via social media. This shows me that we live in an era where one individual really can make a change!

This is exactly the reason why I am at VCU to study photo/film. I started out with fashion and commercial photography and got bored by it very quickly. It didn't satisfy me. I don't want to judge or critique anybody who is in this industry or likes this kind of photography. But for me personally, I wanted to go deeper than just taking a pretty picture of a pretty surface. I wanted to go deeper than what a person or a product looks like - I want to know about the stories behind these facades, I want to find the answers to the whys, the hows and the whos!
Seeing that a photographer with a similar passion is successful to not only follow his own path of what he wants to photograph but also shares his stories and deeply researched answers with a large audience. 

Thank you Shane Rocheleau for sharing this TEDtalk with us!