Perpignan festival attendees watch images from HIDDEN projected onto a big screen. Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur
In September, We Animals attended Visa pour l’image: International Festival of Photojournalism, hosted in Perpignan, France. This annual, month-long event welcomes thousands of photojournalists and photography professionals from around the world for a series of exhibitions, roundtable discussions, screenings and award presentations.
The town heaves with images of humanity and inhumanity, of earth’s brilliance and vulnerability.
“This is my fourth visit to Visa. The festival buzzes. Photographers, students, photo editors and agencies come together to look at work, get inspired and talk shop. This festival was formative for me in my early days, and gave me much to strive for. I wanted to exhibit work some day. Now, the festival is formative in other ways! Our work is here, and in that, animal photojournalism is here.” ― Jo-Anne McArthur, We Animals Founder
This year, Visa projected our award-winning photography book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene onto a massive outdoor screen for almost eight minutes while 2,000 photojournalists observed our prolific brutality to animals. Many of them saw for the first time the scope and scale of what we do to animals we use for food, fashion, entertainment and research.
“The reaction to the HIDDEN screening could not have been conveyed to us more directly or honestly than it was last night and today by the people who spontaneously came up to us to say how moved they were. You could have heard a pin drop! We heard from people who genuinely expressed their wish to do what they can to change their habits and lifestyle choices.” ― Keith Wilson, HIDDEN Co-Editor
Perpignan festival attendees watch images from HIDDEN projected onto a big screen.
Thomas Machowicz / We Animals
Visa’s exhibitions and screenings provide an excellent coverage of contemporary photojournalism that’s relevant to the issues and stories of the day. The response HIDDEN received at this year’s event highlights the importance and necessity of documenting and sharing animal stories. An emergent and essential genre of photography, animal photojournalism shares animal stories with the influential changemakers of our time to help foster a more aware and compassionate relationship to animals.
We were heartened by the response of audience members to these images of suffering and cruelty.
“It’s a massacre what we are doing. A massacre! I was thinking of my dog during the presentation…missing him…and I eat meat….this work is so important, so moving. I’m so happy that this screened here.” ― Audience member
“I’m a huge carnivore but the projection is making me seriously rethink all of it. I’m starting out in photojournalism and I want to work with you.” ― Audience member
This photograph is one of the 204 images included in the book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, published by We Animals. HIDDEN is an unflinching book of photographs documenting our relationship with non-human animals around the globe, as depicted through the lenses of 40 award-winning photojournalists.
HIDDEN 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 stories within its pages are revelatory and brutal.
The Anthropocene is the proposed name for the current geologic epoch. In this era, human activity is the dominant influence on the climate, the environment, and all life on Earth. As we enter a new decade, an estimated 80 billion land animals continue to be used and consumed by humans each year, the majority of whom are raised and killed within industrial agricultural systems. These numbers do not include fish or other marine life, as they are not counted as individualstheir quantities are reported only by the tonne.
This photograph is one of the 204 images included in the book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, published by We Animals. HIDDEN is an unflinching book of photographs documenting our relationship with non-human animals around the globe, as depicted through the lenses of 40 award-winning photojournalists.
HIDDEN 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 stories within its pages are revelatory and brutal.
The Anthropocene is the proposed name for the current geologic epoch. In this era, human activity is the dominant influence on the climate, the environment, and all life on Earth. As we enter a new decade, an estimated 80 billion land animals continue to be used and consumed by humans each year, the majority of whom are raised and killed within industrial agricultural systems. These numbers do not include fish or other marine life, as they are not counted as individualstheir quantities are reported only by the tonne.
This is the first slaughterhouse in Turkey to install and practice stunning before slaughter. On this day, a captive bolt gun was installed and slaughterhouse staff were trained on its use. The bulls are led in a "knock box" and stunned with the pneumatic bolt gun, and then hung up by their hind leg. A worker then slits their throat. In several cases, the animal was still conscious, despite the six-inch bolt gun being shot into their skull. Hanging, the animals are left for a few minutes to bleed out while another animal is brought into the knock box, a few feet away from the animals who are hanging. After bleeding out, the bulls are skinned, gutted and processed. The name of the slaughterhouse is intentionally withheld.
This photograph is one of the 204 images included in the book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, published by We Animals. HIDDEN is an unflinching book of photographs documenting our relationship with non-human animals around the globe, as depicted through the lenses of 40 award-winning photojournalists.
This photograph is one of the 204 images included in the book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, published by We Animals. HIDDEN is an unflinching book of photographs documenting our relationship with non-human animals around the globe, as depicted through the lenses of 40 award-winning photojournalists.
HIDDEN 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 stories within its pages are revelatory and brutal.
The Anthropocene is the proposed name for the current geologic epoch. In this era, human activity is the dominant influence on the climate, the environment, and all life on Earth. As we enter a new decade, an estimated 80 billion land animals continue to be used and consumed by humans each year, the majority of whom are raised and killed within industrial agricultural systems. These numbers do not include fish or other marine life, as they are not counted as individualstheir quantities are reported only by the tonne.
This photograph is one of the 204 images included in the book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, published by We Animals. HIDDEN is an unflinching book of photographs documenting our relationship with non-human animals around the globe, as depicted through the lenses of 40 award-winning photojournalists.
HIDDEN 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 stories within its pages are revelatory and brutal.
The Anthropocene is the proposed name for the current geologic epoch. In this era, human activity is the dominant influence on the climate, the environment, and all life on Earth. As we enter a new decade, an estimated 80 billion land animals continue to be used and consumed by humans each year, the majority of whom are raised and killed within industrial agricultural systems. These numbers do not include fish or other marine life, as they are not counted as individualstheir quantities are reported only by the tonne.
While on assignment with The Guardian for their Animals Farmed series, I visited a slaughterhouse on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand. Invisible from the winding street, we entered the slaughterhouse from a long narrow road that led to open-air buildings where the young pigs were held in pens and then killed.
Pigs arrived packed into the backs of small multi-level pick-up trucks. Behind the kill floor, thousands of them slept or moved around in small pens. Many were bruised and scratched from transport and from stress-induced fights.
The slaughterhouse owner welcomed me and acknowledged that it was a difficult sight for most people. He told me that some veterinary students had recently visited to observe the process, and a few of them vomited.
Pigs were ushered onto the kill floor in small groups after being hosed down with a pressure washer. On the kill floor, pigs were first clubbed on the head, which was meant to stun them but mostly just knocked them to the ground as they screamed in fear and pain. From there, a worker slit their necks open. The pigs then bled out for a minute or more and were heaved into a tank of scalding water.
After slaughter, the pigs were again cleaned, disembowelled, and hacked in two. Workerswho were Thai, Burmese, Vietnamese, and Filipinoheaved the carcasses over their shoulders and loaded them onto refrigerated trucks to depart for butchering and sale.
This photograph is one of the 204 images included in the book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, published by We Animals. HIDDEN is an unflinching book of photographs documenting our relationship with non-human animals around the globe, as depicted through the lenses of 40 award-winning photojournalists.
This photograph is one of the 204 images included in the book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, published by We Animals. HIDDEN is an unflinching book of photographs documenting our relationship with non-human animals around the globe, as depicted through the lenses of 40 award-winning photojournalists.
HIDDEN 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 stories within its pages are revelatory and brutal.
The Anthropocene is the proposed name for the current geologic epoch. In this era, human activity is the dominant influence on the climate, the environment, and all life on Earth. As we enter a new decade, an estimated 80 billion land animals continue to be used and consumed by humans each year, the majority of whom are raised and killed within industrial agricultural systems. These numbers do not include fish or other marine life, as they are not counted as individualstheir quantities are reported only by the tonne.
This photograph is one of the 204 images included in the book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, published by We Animals. HIDDEN is an unflinching book of photographs documenting our relationship with non-human animals around the globe, as depicted through the lenses of 40 award-winning photojournalists.
HIDDEN 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 stories within its pages are revelatory and brutal.
The Anthropocene is the proposed name for the current geologic epoch. In this era, human activity is the dominant influence on the climate, the environment, and all life on Earth. As we enter a new decade, an estimated 80 billion land animals continue to be used and consumed by humans each year, the majority of whom are raised and killed within industrial agricultural systems. These numbers do not include fish or other marine life, as they are not counted as individualstheir quantities are reported only by the tonne.
This photograph is one of the 204 images included in the book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, published by We Animals. HIDDEN is an unflinching book of photographs documenting our relationship with non-human animals around the globe, as depicted through the lenses of 40 award-winning photojournalists.
HIDDEN 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 stories within its pages are revelatory and brutal.
The Anthropocene is the proposed name for the current geologic epoch. In this era, human activity is the dominant influence on the climate, the environment, and all life on Earth. As we enter a new decade, an estimated 80 billion land animals continue to be used and consumed by humans each year, the majority of whom are raised and killed within industrial agricultural systems. These numbers do not include fish or other marine life, as they are not counted as individualstheir quantities are reported only by the tonne.
This photograph is one of the 204 images included in the book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, published by We Animals. HIDDEN is an unflinching book of photographs documenting our relationship with non-human animals around the globe, as depicted through the lenses of 40 award-winning photojournalists.
HIDDEN 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 stories within its pages are revelatory and brutal.
The Anthropocene is the proposed name for the current geologic epoch. In this era, human activity is the dominant influence on the climate, the environment, and all life on Earth. As we enter a new decade, an estimated 80 billion land animals continue to be used and consumed by humans each year, the majority of whom are raised and killed within industrial agricultural systems. These numbers do not include fish or other marine life, as they are not counted as individualstheir quantities are reported only by the tonne.
This photograph is one of the 204 images included in the book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, published by We Animals. HIDDEN is an unflinching book of photographs documenting our relationship with non-human animals around the globe, as depicted through the lenses of 40 award-winning photojournalists.
HIDDEN 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 stories within its pages are revelatory and brutal.
The Anthropocene is the proposed name for the current geologic epoch. In this era, human activity is the dominant influence on the climate, the environment, and all life on Earth. As we enter a new decade, an estimated 80 billion land animals continue to be used and consumed by humans each year, the majority of whom are raised and killed within industrial agricultural systems. These numbers do not include fish or other marine life, as they are not counted as individualstheir quantities are reported only by the tonne.
This photograph is one of the 204 images included in the book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, published by We Animals. HIDDEN is an unflinching book of photographs documenting our relationship with non-human animals around the globe, as depicted through the lenses of 40 award-winning photojournalists.
HIDDEN 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 stories within its pages are revelatory and brutal.
The Anthropocene is the proposed name for the current geologic epoch. In this era, human activity is the dominant influence on the climate, the environment, and all life on Earth. As we enter a new decade, an estimated 80 billion land animals continue to be used and consumed by humans each year, the majority of whom are raised and killed within industrial agricultural systems. These numbers do not include fish or other marine life, as they are not counted as individualstheir quantities are reported only by the tonne.
We Animals will return to Visa pour l’image in 2022 to continue building on this foundation and presence, at Visa and other photography events, contributing to dialogue and change as a global nonprofit animal photojournalism agency.
Learn more about HIDDEN.
For more related images, visit our HIDDEN gallery.