Jo-Anne McArthur – What is animal photojournalism?

In this event, Jo-Anne McArthur, award-winning photojournalist and the founder of We Animals Media (WAM), outlines her work documenting the stories of animals used for food, fashion, entertainment, tradition and experimentation.

WAM is the world’s leading animal photojournalism agency, and it recently published HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, a major book featuring the work of 40 international photojournalists with a foreword by Academy Award-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix. HIDDEN documents our relationship with animals, exposing some of the billions of hidden animals in our lives: those we eat, wear, and use for entertainment, tradition, and experimentation. HIDDEN was named Photography Book of the Year by Pictures of the Year International, and awarded the Gold Medal for Outstanding Book of the Year – Most Likely to Save the Planet by Independent Publisher.

Like conflict photographers, animal photojournalists report on atrocities, largely hidden from public view, sometimes breaking laws to uncover violence, systematic abuse, and exploitation. In this event, we will explore how animal photojournalism works, the issues that arise from visualising atrocity, and assess the impact this reporting is having.