“Hidden”. It’s just a word but it assumes enormous power as the title of a new book that seeks to shed light on the hidden suffering behind humanity’s use of animals. The book contains over 200 images from 40 documentary photographers whose work spans six continents to investigate and expose animal use. It’s a courageous task and HIDDEN – the foreword for which was written by Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix -- asks its readers to show similar courage and face up to what we are supporting through our choices for animal-based food, clothing and entertainment.
Photo: HIDDEN
HIDDEN: ANIMALS IN THE ANTHROPOCENE takes an unflinching look through the camera at our relationship with non-human animals. It focuses on the invisible animals in our lives: those with whom we have a close relationship and yet fail to see. They are the animals we eat and the animals we wear. They are the animals used in research and for entertainment, as well as the animals we sacrifice in the name of tradition and religion.
The Anthropocene is the proposed name for the current geological epoch in which human activity is the dominant influence on climate, the environment, and all life on earth. An estimated 80 billion land animals {fish and other marine life are not measured individually but by tonnes), continue to be used and consumed by humans each year. The majority of these animals are raised and killed within industrial agricultural systems.
The stories within HIDDEN’S pages are revelatory and brutal. They are proof of the emergency confronting animals globally, from industrial farming to climate change, and provide valuable insight into the relevance of animal suffering to human health. With the Covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc around the world, people are reassessing our relationships with animals and becoming more open to sustainable stewardship of Earth’s biodiversity. Against this backdrop, HIDDEN couldn’t be more relevant to help safeguard the future of all animals, human and non-human.
It provides these difficult photographs a permanent platform on which to be seen. These stories are too important to be overlooked and unpublished, or just briefly shared in a flurry of social media posts. They are too relevant to the future well-being of animals to be overlooked by an inherently conservative media committed to maintaining the status quo and protecting the sensitivities of their audiences. And, given we rely on nature for our very survival, they are too important for us to overlook as well.
HIDDEN adopts an unashamedly pro-animal perspective, yet also understands the important role played by community leaders, educators, policy makers and activists in determining a future relationship with animals based on a compassionate and humane co-existence. Thus, the plan to get the book into the hands of opinion leaders to help change public opinion, and political leaders to drive legislation to address the plight of animals and help heal our destructive relationship with nature.
Just recently, proposed legislation to ban mink fur farming almost brought down the Polish government. Poland is home to the third largest mink farming industry in the world (behind China and Denmark). But, it was a TV documentary co-produced by animal rights group, Open Cages, revealing the deplorable conditions on a mink fur farm that galvanized a major shift in public sentiment. Recent polls show overwhelming support for the ban.
“[HIDDEN] is a historical document, an indictment, and a call to action. It is proof of what is and should never again be,” says Jo-Anne McArthur, the book’s creator and co-editor. Jo-Anne is an award-winning animal photojournalist and founder of We Animals Media, and for nearly two decades she has travelled to more than 60 countries documenting the hidden lives of animals. She is also a speaker on the human-animal relationship, social change, and empathy.
“When I first laid eyes on the book “Inferno” by war photographer James Nachtwey, I immediately knew that I wanted to make a similar book for non-human animals. Nachtwey’s book is a historical document of startling and shocking images that chronicle the devastation we’ve wrought in decades of genocide, civil war, and famine induced by political climates that create the mass migration of people. To this day, Nachtwey’s images are recognized globally, and are used to enliven conversations about how we can and must do better for one another. My goal with HIDDEN is to achieve the same visibility for animal suffering.”
HIDDEN’s Co-Editor, Keith Wilson adds, “It is only very recently that animal sentience has been discussed, let alone acknowledged, by the public at large, many of whom then become horrified upon realizing the deadly implications of their actions. The animals we breed, sell and kill for our dinner plate, that we break and maim for sport and tradition, share many of the same emotions that we do: feelings of sadness and joy, pain and fear, love and grief.
“The images in HIDDEN expose our brutal treatment of animals who deserve far greater respect and mercy than our actions have shown. HIDDEN challenges perceptions and reveals an uncomfortable truth that too many of us have chosen to ignore for too long. My goal is to make HIDDEN a positive turning point in the campaign to redefine humankind’s future relationship with their fellow animals. A future that consigns animal suffering to the past.”
Part Two of this blog … our interview with Jo-Anne McArthur … will be published next Monday. You won’t want to miss getting to know what drives this wise and courageous woman to reveal the hidden truths behind our relationship with animals, and how she copes with the challenges of her dangerous work.
HIDDEN is currently available for pre-order via We Animals Media and will begin shipping in late-October.
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