HIDDEN CRIES: Why animal photojournalism really matters right now
Wildlife photography excludes domestic animal and the billions of animals in labs and factory farms. Animal Photojournalism includes all of them. because these animals are sentient and relevant.
GRAEME GREEN: “Animal Photojournalism is extremely urgent and relevant to the issues of today,” says Jo-Anne McArthur, an award-winning Canadian photographer, journalist and campaigner. She has coined the term Animal Photojournalism (APJ) for an emerging genre of photography that focuses on people’s relationship with nature and highlights the suffering of billions of animals on the planet from human activities, including factory farms, breeding facilities and animal experimentation.
The abuse of nature isn’t just bad for animals; it’s impacting all of our lives, from climate change to the global pandemic (said to have come from bats or pangolins in China’s wildlife markets). McArthur is also the author of Hidden: Animals In The Anthropocene and the founder of We Animals Media. We sat down with her to discuss animal photojournalism, and why it is so important…
GG: How do you define Animal Photojournalism?
JM: I call it an emerging genre, coming out of a number of different kinds of photography. Wildlife photography became a lot more about conservation photography, but conservation photography still excludes a number of animals, namely domestic animal and the billions of animals in labs and factory farms.
Because these animals are sentient and relevant, Animal Photojournalism likes to include all of them. That’s why we call them the ‘hidden’ animals, – they’re hidden from the public conscience, hidden from the media. We’re trying to bring those animals and stories forward. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEOS: