“Seeing Animals: The Evolving Role of Animal Photojournalism in Advocacy and Culture Change”

In this presentation, Jo-Anne McArthur explores the emerging genre of Animal Photojournalism (APJ)—a field that documents the lives of animals living in the shadows of human industry. While photography of animals has historically focused on wildlife, conservation, and companion animals, APJ centers on the animals used in our food systems, for entertainment, research, and labor. In other words, the animals whose lives are inextricably linked to ours.

McArthur discusses how compelling, rigorous visual storytelling can act as a catalyst for ethical and cultural shifts. By bringing these "invisible" animals into the light of the public eye, animal photojournalism challenges the anthropocentric gaze and provides the evidence-based media necessary to accelerate systemic change. The talk examines the power, the challenges, and the limitations of APJ to spark change at the personal and the political level.

Jo-Anne McArthur Bio

Title: Photojournalist, President and Founder

Jo-Anne is an award-winning photojournalist, sought-after speaker, photo editor, and the founder of We Animals. She has visited over sixty countries to document our fraught relationship with animals and is the author of three books: We Animals (2014), Captive (2017), and HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene (2020). Jo-Anne is the subject of the acclaimed Canadian documentary, The Ghosts in Our Machine, and her 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 enjoys jurying photo competitions and has done so for World Press Photo, Big Picture, and others. She hails from Toronto, Canada.

In addition to Jo-Anne McArthur's talk, there will be opening remarks by Daryl Cameron (Associate Professor of Psychology, Sherwin Early Career Professor and Senior Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute), who directs the Empathy and Moral Psychology Lab (https://emplab.la.psu.edu/) and the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making (https://moralconsortium.psu.edu/), on choices to empathize with animals. There will also be remarks by Ivy Gilbert (PhD candidate in Psychology, Cornell University; https://www.ivytgilbert.com/). After Jo-Anne McArthur's talk, there will be a panel discussion about empathy and seeing animals, with moderated Q+A from the audience (both in-person and online).