Meet Marcus Lyon

Read About An Artist Who Uses Photography to Inspire People to Make A Difference in Their Communities

The Human Atlas encourages people to have deeper conversations about the world we live in—creating more powerful connections to our common humanity and hopefully inspiring audiences to see service at the center of their lives, allowing them to step up in their own communities and beyond to make a difference.Marcus Lyon

Marcus Lyon is a British artist who uses photography, storytelling, and technology to explore the people who shape communities. Born in rural England in 1965, Lyon studied political science before working with Amnesty International, a human rights organization, in Latin America. Meeting people from many different countries and backgrounds inspired a lifelong interest in global issues such as urban growth, migration, and social change. In the early 1990s, he founded Glassworks, a creative studio that produces both commissioned and original artwork. As a portrait photographer, Lyon has photographed many well-known people, including Queen Elizabeth II, actors, and several British prime ministers.

Since 2014, Lyon has been working on an ongoing interdisciplinary project called A Human Atlas. Instead of mapping mountains, rivers, or roads, each Human Atlas maps the people who help shape a place. Through this project, Lyon celebrates individuals who are making their communities stronger, more connected, and more inclusive, challenging systems of oppression and marginalization, reclaiming narratives that have historically been erased or distorted, and building collective power to advance their communities’ self-determination.

Each Human Atlas centers around a specific geography and combines photographic portraits, visualizations of participants’ ancestral DNA, and recorded oral histories that allow people to share their life experiences with the viewer. As of 2026, Lyon has created Human Atlases for Brazil, Germany, Detroit, Michigan, Silicon Valley, California, and Los Angeles, California.

In addition to being an artist, Lyon is also an advocate for positive social change. He serves on the boards of several charitable organizations and supports programs that help children, families, and veterans. Through both his artwork and community involvement, Lyon encourages people to think critically about the future while celebrating the resilience, creativity, and diversity that make communities thrive.

Questions

Write or discuss your responses.

• What experiences helped to influence Lyon to create the Human Atlas project? Think about specific parts of his life and how his background may have impacted this project.
• Lyon said: “The Human Atlas encourages people to have deeper conversations about the world we live in—creating more powerful connections to our common humanity and hopefully inspiring audiences to see service at the center of their lives, allowing them to step up in their own communities and beyond to make a difference.” What do you think he meant by this? Do you agree? Explain why or why not.

Something that relates to, is inherited from, or passed down by one’s ancestors from previous generations, or is connected to family history, traditions, or origins.

The act or process of pushing a group of people to the outside of society, or treating them as unimportant or powerless.

The right or ability of a person or group to make their own choices or control their own destiny.