Welcome,
friendly viewers,
to Vegetarian Elite!
We’ve all heard of
the saying, “A picture is
worth a thousand words,”
but today, we’ll meet a
remarkable young woman
whose photos speak
volumes on the way
humanity interacts
with animals.
Hi my name is
Jo-Aanne McArthur.
I’m a photojournalist
from Canada.
Using the medium
of photojournalism to
communicate with people
all over the world,
Jo-Anne McArthur
provides rare insights
into the inner complexities,
depth of understanding
and beauty of our
relationships with animals.
Hi, sweetheart. Hi, guys.
Jo-Anne’s photos
have been featured on
“The New York Times,”
“Elle Canada,” “Canadian
Geographic Magazine,”
“The Globe and Mail”
as well as
many other publications.
Some of Jo-Anne’s
clients include
the Jane Goodall Institute,
Green Party of Ontario,
the World Society for
the Protection of Animals,
among others.
Her work has brought her
to over 40 countries
on all continents.
I was interested
in photography
since I was a child.
I would memorize
magazines, all the photos
in magazines,
all the photo albums
at home.
I never thought that
I could actually become
a photographer
because I imagined
photographers to be
middle aged white men
and not something
that I could do
for some reason.
But once
I finished my studies,
I pursued it because
it’s what I wanted to do
in my soul.
When Jo-Anne was
11 years old,
she was living in Ottawa
and heard a dog barking
restlessly
in a neighbor’s backyard.
With the inherent kindness
that became
the driving force behind
her incredible photos,
young Jo-Anne
asked the neighbor
if she could start taking
the dog, named Duke,
for walks.
It was seeing Duke’s
excitement and joy
during their walks that
made Jo-Anne realize
that animals had feelings
just like us.
This realization
has become the basis
of what she wants to
communicate to the world
with her photojournalism.
I always had a deep love
for animals and
I really admired people
who protected animals.
I am one of the women
who, or children at the time,
who was influenced
by Jane Goodall,
and seeing her and
Dr. Dian Fossey and
seeing what they are doing,
always moved me
to the core.
And I guess
in my early 20’s
I became vegetarian and
started thinking about,
I didn’t want
to eat my friends.
When and why did you
become a vegan yourself?
It’s funny becoming vegan.
I had been vegetarian
for a few years
and I thought veganism
was too extreme.
And I couldn’t possibly
do that very hardcore,
and then I went to
Farm Sanctuary
to do an internship, and
on day one I was there
witnessing the animals
and learning information
about why
those animals were there.
It was a done deal,
so my day one of veganism
was April 1, 2003,
and I never looked back.
Mostly self-taught
but with mentoring from
other great photographers,
Jo-Anne has developed
two aspects to
her photographic career.
She does portraits,
editorial, food
and event photography
in her hometown
of Toronto, Canada
to support herself.
But to fully express
her noble visions,
Jo-Anne also spends
five to six months
of each year abroad
working on
documentary projects
such as We Animals.
We Animals is a project
I thought of probably
about 12 years ago,
and I thought of the title
before I even started
taking photos for it.
We Animals is
about the fact
that we are all animals,
we are sentient beings
and we all deserve
equal respect.
None of us should
be made to suffer.
From that,
I decided I wanted
to take photos of animals
and our relationships
with animals,
and our uses and abuses
of animals
and expose these issues
to the world.
What is the main message
that you are trying
to convey to the public
through your art?
The point of the project
is to document
all the different things
going on around the world.
Lately, I have been
trying to document
more primate issues,
whether it’s vivisection labs
in the States, or
bush-meat issues in Africa.
So this year,
I‘ve been to Africa.
I spent some time in
Southeast Asia documenting
bear bile farming
and lots of time
shooting rodeos and
zoos, and factory farms,
many other investigations
in Europe and in Canada,
having to do with
factory farming and
the processing of animals.
And then recently
in the Antarctic,
I was working
with Sea Shepherd.
And so we would
go down there
and get in the way of
the Japanese whaling fleet
and try to
intercept their whaling.
I’ve seen some great
things too as well though,
I try and balance the work
with going to sanctuaries
and documenting
the amazing work
of people who are
rescuing those animals
and giving them a voice.
Jo-Anne is
a wonderful woman
who does such great work
by going and traveling
throughout the country,
bringing issues
to the forefront
so that people can see
what’s going on there
with animals.
So hopefully
we can make change and
make this a better planet
for not only humans,
but for animals as well.
Jo-Anne, I commend you,
keep doing
what you are doing.
Thank you.
After these brief messages,
Vegetarian Elite
will be right back
with our feature
on photographer
Jo-Anne McArthur.
You are watching
Supreme Master
Television.
I think that the forgiveness
that animals have for us,
always shocks me
to the core.
Just to see
their playful natures
and their relationships
with people, it’s great.
I’ve got 5 rescues right now.
There is a Spy, Bubs,
Wonder Woman,
Mister Man,
and Vanessa in the back.
Welcome back to
Vegetarian Elite
for this week’s feature
on photographer
Jo-Anne McArthur,
who uses her talent
behind the camera lens
to give voice to our
animal co-inhabitants.
We visited Jo-Anne
in her home and
witnessed her in action
taking portraits of
her adorable rescue dog,
Sammy.
Hey, Sammy, come here,
boo.
We’re going
to take a picture.
I’m often doing
animal portraits.
So he’s the perfect subject
for practice.
It’s good to get low
on the grass at their level.
I think that’s
the best thing about
taking photos of animals,
is, don’t shoot them
from a human perspective
but shoot them
from their perspective.
Good boy.
You’re very photogenic,
Sam.
I’m going to throw stick
for you. Ready? Go get it.
Bring it here, Samson.
There’s my boy.
And there is another pose
right there.
Good job, making my job
really easy.
What did you see Sammy?
Good boy.
That’s a nice picture.
Good boy.
Good boy.
That’s a tasty stick.
These are great pictures.
You’re doing a good job.
Joanne is not only
a photographer, but
she also strives to work
for the better treatment
of animals everywhere.
Farm Sanctuary describes
Jo-Anne as an
“Outstanding Activist”
who is positive, friendly
and promotes veganism
through her dinner parties.
She works to protect
the lives of seals in Canada
and volunteers
to bottle-feed kittens
at the Toronto
Humane Society
each spring.
She also convinced
a restaurant owner to
stop selling veal for good.
I wasn’t always
into animal rights work
but I was a photographer
for a long time
and there was one image
in this book that
really, really struck me,
and that’s this one here.
And it was
such a painful image for me,
just seeing how used
this animal is in captivity
with its horn cut off
and here is
this camera crew leaving.
It really affected me
and I thought, “Well,
this is the kind of work
that I want to do that
shows our exploitation
of animals.”
Joanne has worked
with closely to
30 animal welfare
organizations
around the world,
including Animal Asia
based in China;
Farm Sanctuary
in New York, USA;
and Save the Chimps
in Spain.
She often offers
her photographic services
unconditionally
for animal sanctuaries to
help further their cause.
The most shocking thing
that I have seen
and photographed
was babies being born
in a factory farm.
They were piglets
being born
to hundreds of mothers
who couldn’t
even turn around
to see their babies
or clean them.
That was really
overwhelming for me
to see something
so beautiful in such
an atrocious situation.
And then another one
that really affected me
was the bear bile farming
in Asia.
I’ve see these bears
kept in small cages and
being used for their bile.
But I also got to
meet these bears
after being rescued, and
one of them even held me,
pulled me close
with its stumps.
And that really
shocked me to the core
that an animal
could so forgiving, after
what we had done to it.
So experiences like that
really renew my drive
and my effort to help them.
My life’s goal
is to help these animals
and expose what
they’re going through.
Jo-Anne’s work
is important because
it brings attention
to the plight of animals,
to environmental issues,
and that is especially
timely right now,
in light of what is going on
in Louisiana
and the oil spill.
I think Jo-Anne’s work
serves to bring the issue
to people who may not
otherwise be aware of it
because the medium
she uses, because the way
she portrays animals, and
the images she captures
through photography.
And how does the public
react to your work,
like what are the public’s
favorite pictures?
Okay, this is everyone’s
favorite image
from We Animals.
It’s a very happy image.
This is shot
at Farm Sanctuary.
This is Gene,
the co-founder,
and this is OP.
He found OP
at six weeks old.
He was a veal calf;
he was left for dead
on a dead pile,
a pile of other animals.
But he was still living,
and he picked up OP
and put him in his car
and nursed him
to good health,
and bottlefed him.
And they remained
really good friends
as you can see
in the picture for 16 years.
Another favorite image
is this one.
It was
in the Cayman Islands,
with Stingrays
Tourist Industry.
He leads the tourists,
he jumped into water and
stingrays love him and
they’re out in the wild and
they’re not in captivity.
And they played together.
And they would wrestle
and roll over each other.
And it was just
a really loving moment
between him and an animal.
At an event for
the We Animals project,
Jo-Anne stated:
“More than ever,
people know about
factory farming.
They know about
adopting a dog
from a shelter
rather than buying one from the pet store.
We know that endangered animals
are being slaughtered.
We know that wearing fur
is unnecessary and cruel.
My photos aim to add
to this pool of knowledge
about animal abuses and
and help us understand that these abuses
are unnecessary.
The thing is,
we all need to start
acting on the things
we've learned.
Time is critical…
There are so many
compassionate options.
So many bikes to ride,
so many veggie burgers
to devour!
Make small
and then big changes,
and share them
with others, ask others
to do the same…
If not you, then who?
If not now, then when?”
With so much love,
Supreme Master Ching Hai
is honoring
Ms. Jo-Anne McArthur
with the Shining World
Compassion Award,
along with a US$10,000
contribution for any
needed job-related repairs.
Ms. Jo-Anne McArthur,
we are ever grateful
for your loving heart.
May you continue to apply
your God-given talents to
assist our animal friends
towards a happier
and safer existence
that they so deserve.
To learn more about
photographer
Jo-Anne McArthur,
please visit:
www.JoAnneMcArthur.com
Thank you
for your company today
for Vegetarian Elite.
Up next is Between
Master and Disciples,
here on
Supreme Master Television.
May we always
stay focused on
the noble ideals in life.