There are more that 65 million people in the world today who are displaced from their homes due to conflict and persecution - more than at any time in human history. As a photographer who spent time in refugee camps and met the people who were forced from their homes, Brian Sokol underwent a personal transformation in understanding their stories, their dreams and their humanity. It’s time we challenged our beliefs and preconceptions about the refugee crisis.

Brian Sokol is an artist, photographer and author dedicated to documenting human rights issues and humanitarian crises worldwide. Since 2012 he has focused on telling the stories of refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and stateless people in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. His goal is to engender empathy and action in audiences across the lines of language, race, religion and culture.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx