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Jo-Anne McArthur

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Jo-Anne McArthur
Born (1976-12-23) December 23, 1976 (age 47)
Ottawa, Ontario
NationalityCanadian
Occupation(s)Photojournalist and activist
Known forWe Animals
WebsiteJo-Anne McArthur
We Animals
Humane Education

Jo-Anne McArthur (born December 23, 1976) is a Canadian photojournalist, humane educator, animal rights activist and author. She is known for her We Animals project, a photography project documenting human relationships with animals. Through the We Animals Humane Education program, McArthur offers presentations about human relationships with animals in educational and other environments, and through the We Animals Archive, she provides photographs and other media for those working to help animals.

McArthur was the primary subject of the 2013 documentary The Ghosts in Our Machine, directed by Liz Marshall, and with Keri Cronin, she is the founder of the Unbound Project, which aims to celebrate and recognize female animal activists. Her first book, We Animals, was published in 2013, and her second, Captive, was published in 2017. McArthur has been awarded a range of commendations for her photography and activism, including the 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice award.

Photography

McArthur was raised in Ottawa, Ontario, and studied Geography and English at the University of Ottawa.[1] She decided to pursue photography after taking an elective course on black-and-white photography at university.[2] She originally entered photography motivated by artistry, but her motives subsequently changed, and she instead came to see her camera as her "tool for creating change". Her earlier work photographing animals was in the genre of street photography, but she now increasingly photographs captive animals, sometimes while undercover.[3] In 2010, the trauma of her work led to her being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, though she has since recovered. Her photographs are sometimes published anonymously.[1]

Her work has been published in a variety of media, including the Canadian version of the lifestyle magazine Elle, the German news magazine Der Spiegel, and the American tourism magazine National Geographic Traveler. In addition, her photographs have been used by over 100 animal advocacy organizations[4] and in academic work on human-animal relationships.[5]

McArthur appeared in the top 50 of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Champions of Change contest,[6] and on More's fourth annual "Fierce" list.[7] She has also been awarded the Institute for Critical Animal Studies's 2014 Media Award, and the Toronto Vegetarian Association's 2013 Lisa Grill Compassion for Animals Award (with Liz Marshall).[1][8] Farm Sanctuary awarded her the 2013 "Friend of Farm Animals" award,[9] and listed her as one of their "Heroes of Compassion" in 2016.[10]

In 2018, McArthur was awarded the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice award for a photograph of Pikin, a lowland gorilla rescued from poachers by Ape Action Africa, in the arms of Appolinaire Ndohoudou, a carer, while Pikin was being transported between two sanctuaries in Cameroon.[11][12] The photograph was selected by voters from a shortlist of 24 chosen by the Natural History Museum. McArthur said that she was "so thankful that this image resonated with people", hoping that it might "inspire us all to care a little bit more about animals ... No act of compassion towards them is ever too small."[11] She went on to win the Special Award of the Jury for the best single picture entry as a part of The Alfred Fried Photography Award 2018 for the same photograph. The jury were unanimous in their decision, and described the photograph by saying:

Jo-Anne McArthur firmly believes that animals are individuals and have feelings. And if proof were needed she supplied it with this magnificent picture full of tenderness. A moment when it transpires that animals too know a feeling of safety and comfort, are able and willing to trust and need affection. And that they recognize when it is offered to them.[13]

We Animals

McArthur conceived of the We Animals project in around 1998 after an encounter with a macaque monkey chained to a windowsill in Ecuador. She photographed the monkey as she was appalled at the treatment, and "knew that the way [she] saw our treatment of animals was important, and [she] wanted to share that point of view".[3] On its website, We Animals is described as:

an ambitious project which documents, through photography, animals in the human environment. Humans are as much animal as the sentient beings we use for food, clothing, research, experimentation, work, entertainment, slavery and companionship. With this as its premise, We Animals aims to break down the barriers that humans have built which allow us to treat non-human animals as objects and not as beings with moral significance. The objective is to photograph our interactions with animals in such a way that the viewer finds new significance in these ordinary, often unnoticed situations of use, abuse and sharing of spaces.[9]

In December 2013, We Animals, a photobook by McArthur containing both text and over 100 of her photographs, was published by Lantern Books.[14] The activist Bruce Friedrich, in a review published by The Huffington Post, described it as "the most gorgeous book [he had] experienced in many years", one which "offers haunting sadness, [but also] intense hope".[15]

McArthur has spoken in educational institutions since 2008.[16] In 2014, a grant was awarded to McArthur to develop the We Animals Humane Education project by The Pollination Project and the Thinking Vegan.[17] Through the We Animals Humane Education Program, McArthur offers a variety of presentations in school, university and other environments.[18][19] The program seeks to "foster awe, curiosity and critical thinking about our relationships with animals", to "instill reverence, respect and responsibility", inspire empathy with animals, to "create gentler stewards of the earth", and to encourage people to be "agents of positive change".[20]

In 2017, McArthur launched the We Animals Archive, an archive of thousands of photographs and videos of animals in human-dominated environments. The Archive serves as a repository of media from the wider We Animals project that can be freely used by individuals and organizations working towards animal-protection goals.[21][22]

Captive

McArthur published a second book through Lantern, entitled Captive, in 2017. The book—which features contributions from the activist Virginia McKenna, the philosopher Lori Gruen, and Ron Kagan, of Detroit Zoo—focuses on the animals in zoos and aquaria.[23] It also contains a series of short essays by McArthur. Stephen F. Eisenman reviewed the book for Animal Liberation Currents, comparing McArthur's photography with that of other zoo photographers and photographers of human prisons. He said that

McArthur's Captive is a powerful, visual survey of zoo animals and their physical conditions of captivity. But precisely because it examines so many different zoos and animals, its cannot provide significant insight either into the subjectivity of captive animals, or the ideological and economic function of zoological gardens. The merging of close and sustained photographic observation and detailed institutional history and critique is what is most lacking in the current generation of zoo books. That’s a worthwhile project for McArthur and her peers in the future.[24]

The Ghosts in Our Machine

McArthur was the "main human subject" of the 2013 documentary film The Ghosts in Our Machine, directed by Liz Marshall.[25] The film avoids the shocking imagery of many documentaries focussed on animal rights, such as Earthlings, meaning that it "takes an almost arthouse approach, resulting in a film that's more a meditation on suffering and the relationship between humans and other species, than an angry, didactic diatribe".[26] Writing in Variety, the critic Peter Debruge said that

It's enough to make you sad, not for the animals (to whom human cruelty is nothing new), but for McArthur, this beautiful young woman who feels so deeply for those not of her kind that she carries their collective suffering around with her daily. What must it be like to experience PTSD after visiting dairy farms and facilities that supply primates for medical testing?[27]

Unbound Project

With Keri Cronin, an associate professor of art history at the Department of Visual Arts at Brock University, McArthur founded the Unbound Project, a multimedia and book project aiming "to recognize and celebrate women at the forefront of animal advocacy, in both a contemporary and historical context", and to "inspire our audience to do what they can to make the world a kinder, gentler place for all species".[28][29][30] Profiled women include Aysha Akhtar, Elisa Aaltola, Emarel Freshel, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Carolyn Merino Mullin, Melissa Amarello, Avalon Theisen, Lumka Golintete, Piia Anttonen, Fanny Martin, Raabia Hawa, Sarungbam Yaiphabi Devi, Katherine Meyer and Patty Mark.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b c Domingo, Nadya (28 January 2015). "Social Justice All-Star: Jo-Anne McArthur". This. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  2. ^ Gueraseva, Julie (30 January 2013). "The Witness: Photographer Jo-Anne McArthur". Laika Magazine. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  3. ^ a b Abrams, Lindsay (28 December 2013). "One photographer's mission to change the way we look at animals". Salon. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Jo-Anne McArthur". Redux Pictures. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Gruen, Lori (2014). "Dignity, Captivity, and an Ethics of Sight". In Gruen, Lori (ed.). The Ethics of Captivity. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 231–47. ISBN 9780199978007.
  6. ^ "Top 50: Jo-Anne McArthur". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  7. ^ "MORE Magazine's 4th Annual Fierce List: 50 Inspiring Women". More. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Lisa Grill Compassion for Animals Award". Toronto Vegetarian Association. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  9. ^ a b "About We Animals". We Animals. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  10. ^ "Jo-Anne McArthur, Hero of Compassion". Farm Sanctuary. August 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Wildlife Photographer of the Year - People's Choice". BBC. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  12. ^ Drewett, Zoe (13 February 2018). "Gorilla hugging man who saved his life picture wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year award". Metro. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  13. ^ https://www.friedaward.com/index.php/winners/winners-2018/pikin-and-appolinaire-w
  14. ^ "Book". We Animals. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  15. ^ Friedrich, Bruce (5 December 2014). "Looking Into Their Eyes: Jo-Anne McArthur's We Animals". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  16. ^ "About Jo-Anne". We Animals Humane Education Program. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  17. ^ "Jo-Anne McArthur, We Animals' Humane Education Program". The Pollination Project. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  18. ^ "Programs". We Animals Humane Education Program. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  19. ^ "Services". We Animals Humane Education Program. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  20. ^ "Why humane education?". We Animals Humane Education Program. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  21. ^ Montini, Beatrice (2017). "«We Animals», l'archivio delle foto che raccontano il nostro rapporto con gli (altri) animali" [We Animals, a photoarchive that tells of our relationship with the (other) animals]. Corriere Della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  22. ^ "About We Animals". We Animals Archive. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  23. ^ "Captive by Jo-Anne McArthur" (video). Lantern Books. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ Eisenman, Stephen F. (16 January 2018). "The Averted Gaze". Animal Liberation Currents. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  25. ^ "Cast". Ghost Media Inc. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  26. ^ Hawkes, Rebecca (16 July 2014). "The Ghosts in Our Machine: 'It's not a finger-wagging movie outing farmers'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  27. ^ Debruge, Peter (9 December 2013). "Film Review: 'The Ghosts in Our Machine'". Variety. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  28. ^ "About the project". Unbound Project. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  29. ^ Levy, Joel (8 March 2016). "Unbound Celebrates Inspiring Women Changing the World for Animals". Toronto Guardian. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  30. ^ Majtenyi, Cathy (7 March 2016). "Brock prof gets funding for project profiling women animal rights activists". The Brock News. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  31. ^ "Featured stories". Unbound Project. Retrieved 10 August 2016.

Further reading

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