Jo-Anne McArthur’s work has been featured in many books and publications such as National Geographic, Elle Canada, Canadian Geographic, DAYS Japan, Helsingin Sanomat, Photolife, PDN Online, the Huffington Post, Earth Island Journal, Point of View, Alternatives Journal, Canadian Dimension, and recently, The Washington Post. Jo-Anne is the subject of Canadian filmmaker Liz Marshall’s acclaimed documentary, The Ghosts In Our Machine, and her first book, also entitled We Animals, was published by Lantern Books in 2013. Recent awards and accolades include the Institute for Critical Animal Studies Media Award; More Magazine’s Fierce List; 2013 Toronto Compassion for Animals Award; one of CBC’s Top 50 Champions of Change; Farm Sanctuary’s 2010 “Friend of Farm Animals” award; HuffPost WOMEN’s “Top 10 Women trying to change the world,” and one of 20 activists featured in the book, The Next Eco Warrior.
The premise of your We Animals project, to document the human interactions with animals, showing how ordinary situations can be seen from a different perspective, is very effective. Was there a specific moment or experience when you realized that people were not recognizing these common incidences for abuse?
(I recount this in the introduction to the We Animals book, feel free to quote from that. Here is the short version though!) It was in 1998 when I was backpacking through Ecuador. There was a monkey chained to some window bars. The monkey could neither get in nor out, and was trained to pick-pocket the people going by. People were taking photos of the monkey because they thought it was cute or funny, but I stopped to take photos because I thought it was terribly cruel, and I wanted to do something with the image, to help the monkey, or at least show the world that this sort of treatment of animals was unacceptable. I saw, then, quite clearly, that I saw animals differently than others did. I thought my point of view was important, that showing animals through my lens, so to speak, could help people see animals anew, and think critically about how we treat them. It was around then that the seed of the We Animals project was born.
As a parent, I was particularly struck by the We Animals photographs of the “Veal Fun” coloring book, the child learning to rope a calf like his father, and the matador school. As parents, we pass on our knowledge and attitudes to our children so that our “normal” behavior becomes theirs. If given an opportunity to talk parents about these photos, what would you say?
Parents and kids alike need to learn, see, understand that animals are sentient. And like you, who connected with those particular photos, so too can other parents, especially images that illustrate the parent-child bond. It’s egregious, catastrophic, that we would take a newborn baby away from their parent, especially moments after birth, as we do in the dairy industry. Let’s show these stories, let’s start a discussion, let’s teach people to think critically about animals, and show that they are not just objects for our use. This is achievable, but we need so many more educators on board, leading the way when it comes to education, humane education specifically. I think education is one of the most important ways we can employ our activism. Education is something we can support. I’m a big fan of organizations like the Institute for Humane Education. I’ve also developed the We Animals Humane Education Programs, which I bring to schools. So, yes, there is a lot to do, a lot of people to reach, especially parents and their children!
In the documentary, The Ghosts In Our Machine, you said that leaving is the hardest thing, that leaving is the reason you are haunted. How do you cope with walking away from the suffering you must leave behind?
As pattrice jones so aptly says, hope isn’t just a feeling, hope is something you do. She’s the author of a fantastic book called Aftershock, published by Lantern Books, and I recommend it to anyone who is struggling with the cruelty we see in this world. As compassionate people, it’s really difficult to bear witness, and we can experience extreme stress and trauma. I have experienced those things, but I can continue doing this work because I’m focused on creating change. If I didn’t, I would feel incapacitated and would have quit long ago. I know the work I’m doing is having an effect, and so that work is necessary, and I continue. Hope it something I choose to do. There are other good books to help us cope, such as Beyond Beliefs by Melanie Joy, and Trauma Stewardship by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky.
Are you ever surprised by the level of cruelty humans are capable of, especially toward companion animals?
Unfortunately, I continue to be surprised. It hurts my heart very much. The last scene is Shaun Monson’s stunning film, Unity, shows a fish being sliced up and fried alive, and served while it’s still breathing. That is the point of this dish … to fry the fish and serve it while it continues to gasp and while its heart still beats. It’s things like this that make me wonder if there is hope for us. If we are capable of taking part in this, well, that’s a brutal thing to try to get your head around. This brings me back to education. It’s paramount. That is clear to me, above all. We need to educate people about animal sentience, and we also need to change laws. I’m a very big fan of the advancement of animal law.
In the online aquarium page of the We Animals archive of photos, your commentary reads, “Aquarium visitors spend a few moments looking at each animal. The animals spend a lifetime looking out at visitors, but never leave.” You have a way of expressing what life is like for animals not only in pictures, but in words as well. Can you give us a little backstory on what you were thinking when you shot the images on these two pages that I found so striking?
Thank you. I really appreciate the feedback and that you’ve really spent time contemplating these images. As you know, my newest book, Captive, focuses specifically on animals in zoos and aquaria, and I did a lot of thinking and writing about the topic, and so I hope that people will read the book and look through the 148 images we’ve included. Where animals are used in entertainment, I argue that we don’t really see the individuals right in front of us. Visits to the zoo and aquarium are, for most people, something to do with the kids for a few hours. We often see (and are told to see) the enclosed animals as a representative of a species, but not as an individual, one with complex emotions, one who might have been separated from friends and family because of zoo breeding programs, and someone who has no choice of what to eat, where to sleep, who to socialize with. They are often individuals with no privacy and little autonomy. My hope is that my images illuminate this aspect of the lives of the animals who are placed before us.
Your photo archives contain photos from every kind of abuse imaginable. Since you began taking photos of these animals, is there any area for which you have seen significant improvement in conditions, legislation, transparency, or public knowledge? Is there an area you think animal advocates need to focus their attention more, or perhaps differently, to get results?
Things are getting both better, and worse, for animals worldwide. It depends on the country, the trends, and the economy. Animal acts in circuses are increasingly being banned in many countries, so that’s great. We are seeing a huge rise of vegetarianism and veganism, but there’s also a huge rise in meat-eating in countries like India and China. But we also see growing activism in those countries.
What I tell activists is to figure out what they do best, what they love doing the very best, and mold that into something they can do to help animals, the environment, and humanity. What’s happening to our world and to its inhabitants is a crisis now. We have no time to delay. I think that whatever your profession or passion is, use that to make the world a better place. I give lots of examples at the Unbound Project, which features women animal advocates around the world. It’s super inspiring.
We can do all sorts of things as animal advocates. We can practice law, education, science, engineering; we can run sanctuaries and shelters; we can write, make art, found organizations; we can leaflet; we can be chefs and nutritionists. There’s so much we can do, and so much we need to do right away.
Many individuals and organizations are very proprietary of their photos and, in fact, threaten lawsuits when photos are re-used, even by accident. You, on the other hand, take your photos with intent on sharing them, with intent on them being used in whatever way necessary to help free animals from oppression, abuse, and death. What brought you to that place, where you knew that you were taking photos for others to use as well as yourself?
Well, the work I do is to help animals, so making the images as widely available as possible always was the priority. That meant letting anyone use the images free of charge. Finally, thousands of my images are easily available at the We Animals.
It’s a tricky business model: Work hard and give everything away for free! At long last, however, it’s financially tenable. I used to fund my animal work through my commercial work. I’ve been a professional photographer for about twenty years now. Weddings, events, corporate gigs, family portraits, etc., funded the animal work, but as the project grew, and my reputation—people knew that I was sticking around and doing good, long-term work—I started fundraising for the We Animals project. People became monthly donors and we started receiving a lot of help. People can now sign up as monthly donors via Patreon (www.patreon.com/ weanimals). This allows me to concentrate on my animal work full-time. The funding covers life and work costs, staff, the archive, and lots of new projects. It took some time, but here we are! I’m incredibly grateful to the people who support our work. It allows us to continue making the work, and providing it free of charge to anyone helping animals!
I read that Farm Sanctuary was your inspiration for going from vegetarian to vegan and that since then you have been vegan. And in the documentary, The Ghosts In Our Machine, you return to Farm Sanctuary frequently to recoup. Is Farm Sanctuary still your favorite place to gain your balance and surround yourself with happy animals? Are there other sanctuaries you visit often and consider favorite places to be?
Exactly! Yes, Farm Sanctuary is my recoup place, my home away from home, and one of the greatest joys in my life! There are a lot of sanctuaries to visit, and I encourage everyone to do so. They are sanctuaries not just for non-human animals, but for us as well. I encourage people not just to visit, but to volunteer and help fund these organizations. Visiting a sanctuary is also a great way to educate people about animal sentience.
There are so many women in the world active in every kind of animal advocacy, including education, rescue, rehabilitation, and running sanctuaries. Your Unbound Project recognizes them for their dedication and hard work. How do you choose women to highlight among the many nominations submitted?
We receive nominations from around the world quite regularly. Our criteria is listed on the Unbound Project website, and I don’t see how we will ever be able to share the stories of this many women, because we get so many nominations! But we encourage more. We need to see and know what’s going on, and we do our best to feature as many of them as we can.
I read a quote in which you said, “We cannot change or care unless we know.” That is exactly what motivates us at The Animals Voice. Getting the word, the images, and the stories out there so people will KNOW. We are grateful to you for the photos we will be able to use in our future endeavors. Thank you for what you do, and thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us and with our readers.
Is there anything you would like to add that I have not covered here?
Thanks so much to The Animals Voice for bearing witness, for helping to show the light, and for educating people about the many animals on the planet who so desperately need our care and our respect.