I've got good news, better news and bad news, folks. The good news is that yesterday a book launched that will change minds, hearts and lives around the world. The better news is that Jo-Anne McArthur, co-editor of this book, took time out of an incredibly busy schedule this morning to chat with me about it. The bad news is that, because it's 2020, the recording software I use didn't record my side of our conversation. Which, for many, may be the best news of all.
Let's start at the beginning. Hidden: Animals in the Anthropocene by Jo-Anne McArthur and Keith Wilson, with a Foreword by Joaquin Phoenix, is now available.
A short synopsis from the book's media kit:
HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene is an unflinching book of photography documenting our relationship with non-human animals in the 21st Century. 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.
HIDDEN includes the work of a global community of photographers, 40 of the world's best animal photojournalists who work globally to investigate, document, and expose animal use.
I spent a few hours flipping through my review copy, experiencing the images and reading the accompanying essays, facts and contextual copy. My review can be broken down to two sentences: Hidden is the heart-wrenching documentation of the unnatural things we've done to this planet and its inhabitants. We can only hope that this clear story – one that shows truth without apology or hyperbole – is enough to help us change our ways.
Jo-Anne, founder of We Animals, joined me for a conversation about the new book; but as I noted, an error in my recording software kept only Jo-Anne's part of that conversation.
I spent about an hour and a half trying to reverse engineer my questions (I keep notes, not fully written questions) before realizing that there's ethical implications behind that I'm not comfortable with and it would likely just sound weird. As such, I'm presenting Jo-Anne's answers, again the important part, with simple subject prompts from me.
