HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT: The lives of animals behind the products we consume
If we were to face the animals we keep in crates and cages, and spend some time examining their lives there, and why they are there, we may not be able to enjoy ham or foie gras.
JO-ANNE MCARTHUR: Hidden: Animals in the Anthropocene is a collection of work by 40 photojournalists from around the world, documenting the lives of animals used for research, entertainment and food. “The animals we use most in our daily lives are hidden. They’re hidden away in factory farms, fur farms, and in labs that use them in research and testing,” says photographer Jo-Anne McArthur, who co-edited the collection. “They are also hidden euphemistically; we don’t say we’re eating a calf, for example. We say we’re eating veal.”
“As animal rights activists, our battle is against the powerful enterprises that have normalised the torment and killing of billions of animals for food, clothing, entertainment and experimentation each year. Like conflict photographers documenting war and other humanitarian crises, the brave photojournalists featured in this book deserve our acclaim.
Their work has made it impossible for exploitative industries to plausibly deny the agony and suffering taking place behind closed doors, deliberately kept out of the public consciousness,” write McArthur and her co-editor Keith Wilson in the book published at the end of last year…
“Animal industries should be transparent because they serve the public, but they are just the opposite, with multimillion dollar lobbying efforts keeping their exploits concealed,” says McArthur. “Concentrated animal feeding operations and other industries that use animals do not want cameras around”…
“We are always hiding animals from ourselves. We build walls and euphemisms to cover any discomfort we might have. If we were to face the animals we keep in crates and cages, and spend some time examining their lives there, and why they are there, we may not be able to enjoy ham or foie gras,” says McArthur. SOURCE…
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