Photographer rides 9,000 miles to document stories of sex trafficking survivors

Lauren Trantham is an Oregon-based photographer, riding her motorcycle 9,000 miles through 20 cities to raise awareness for sex trafficking through photography.

She's doing it for the Rebecca Bender Initiative, an organization that mentors sex trafficking survivors online.

One of Trantham's stops is St. Augustine, where she is photographing survivors of sex trafficking, including Christa Hicks.

Hicks was sex trafficked decades ago. It was the beginning of a downward spiral through the streets and eventually at the mercy of drugs.

She turned her life around, earning a master’s degree and is now a licensed mental health counselor.

Hicks is just one face Trantham is capturing; she plans to photograph at least 45 survivors during her journey.

“We have these preconceived notions about what it means to be sex trafficked and part of my mission on this project is to show is what a survivor of sex trafficking looks like,” Trantham said.

Trantham's next stop will be in Memphis where she photograph three girls; her ride will end in November.

This weekend, Trantham will be showing a slideshow of those survivors on Sunday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in St. Augustine at the Damiana.

Cox Media Group