Jo-Anne McArthur Biography

Influential Animal Right Activists

Jo-Anne McArthur

Born: December 23, 1976

Nationality: Canadian

Occupation: Activist | Author | Photojournalist

Known for: We Animals Media | Unbound Project | The Ghosts in Our Machine

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Who is Jo-Anne McArthur

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. We Animals Media, meanwhile, is a media agency focused on human/animal relationships.

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; her second, Captive, was published in 2017; and a third, Hidden: Animals in the Anthropocene, which was co-authored with the journalist Keith Wilson, was published in 2020. McArthur has been awarded a range of commendations for her photography and activism, including several commendations in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards and joint first place in the COP26 photography competition.

Her Photography Life

McArthur was raised in Ottawa, Ontario, and studied Geography and English at the University of Ottawa. She decided to pursue photography after taking an elective course on black-and-white photography at university. 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. 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.