S6E7: Animal Photojournalism with Jo-Anne McArthur
Claudia talks to renowned photographer Jo-Anne McArthur about the power of images in political change for animals. They unpack what animal photojournalism is, some of the challenges photographers encounter in recording the lives of animals, and the political implications of such photos.
Jo-Anne McArthur
Jo-Anne McArthur is an award-winning photojournalist, sought-after speaker, photo editor, and the founder of We Animals Media. She has visited over sixty countries to document our complex relationship with animals. She is the author of three books: We Animals (2014), Captive(2017), and HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene (2020), and is the subject of Canadian filmmaker Liz Marshall’s acclaimed Canadian documentary, The Ghosts in Our Machine. Jo-Anne’s photographs have received accolades from Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Nature Photographer of the Year, Big Picture, Picture of the Year International, the Global Peace Award, and others. Jo-Anne has been a visiting scholar at the University of British Columbia and Denver University, and in 2020, Jo-Anne was a jury member for World Press Photo. She hails from Toronto, Canada. Find out more about Jo-Anne on her website or connect with her on Twitter (@WeAnimals).
Hidden, Animals in the Anthropocene by We Animals Media
It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War by Lindsey Addario
Every Twelve seconds: Industrialized Slaughter and the Politics of Sight by Timothy Pachirat.
Maximum tolerated dose by Decipher Films
Zebra Eyeby Frans Lanting
Featured:
In this Animal Highlight, fellow Virginia Thomas uses one of Jo-Anne McArthur’s images as her inspiration. She compares and contrasts the lives of mink kept for fur with those of wild mink before reflecting on some of the ethical and environmental concerns that emerge from using mink for fur.
Animal Highlight: Mink
“May the frightened cease to be afraid and those bound be freed. May the powerless find power and may people think of benefitting each other. For as long as space remains, for as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain to dispel the miseries of the world.” – Shantideva, The Way of The Bodhisattva
Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) for sponsoring this podcast; Christiaan Mentz for hi editing work, Virginia Thomas for the Animal Highlight, Gordon Clarke for the bed music, Jeremy John (Website) for the logo. This podcast is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder.