Jo-Anne McArthur

Jo-Anne McArthur is an award-winning photographer, author, photo editor, mentor, and internationally recognized speaker whose work has profoundly shaped the field of animal advocacy through visual storytelling. Since 1998, her long-term project We Animals has documented the complex and often troubling relationships between humans and non-human animals across more than sixty countries. In 2019, she founded We Animals, a pioneering non-profit photo agency that advocates for animals through ethical and impactful photojournalism.

She is the author of three books: We Animals (2014), Captive (2017), and HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene (2020), and is the subject of Canadian filmmaker Liz Marshall’s acclaimed Canadian documentary, The Ghosts in Our Machine. Jo-Anne’s photographs have received accolades from Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Nature Photographer of the Year, Big Picture, AEFONA, Picture of the Year International, the Global Peace Award, and others. In 2020, Jo-Anne was thrilled to be a member of the jury for World Press Photo. She hails from Toronto, Canada.

At the heart of McArthur’s work lies Animal Photojournalism (APJ), an emergent genre of photography dedicated to investigating, memorializing, and exposing the lived experiences of animals who coexist with humans yet are frequently rendered invisible. APJ provides crucial visual information to the public, shedding light on industries that remain hidden and unaccountable for the exploitation and suffering of billions of animals each year.

This webinar invites participants to engage with McArthur’s vision and practice, exploring how photography can act as both witness and catalyst for change in tourism, hospitality, and leisure practices and domains.