Lia Barrett has spent the last decade diving in some of the world's deepest ocean trenches and taking pictures of amazing creatures. In a recent TEDx talk, she says: "Our dirty deeds underwater go mostly unseen, and therefore mostly unpunished." It's a prelude to how the environmental crises she's witnessed in her time underwater led her away from her work as a documentary photographer and toward a career combining underwater photography with environmental activism.
Colorlines spoke to Barrett about her path to underwater photography and the impact she's witnessed firsthand on this fragile habitat.