Photo-Activism: Photography With Purpose
From animal cruelty and the illegal wildlife trade to the destruction of nature, photography is vital to provoking change around the world, reports Graeme Green
“Images are incredibly powerful,” says Spanish photographer Joan de la Malla. “The emotional impact of photographs makes them especially valuable. Photos overcome language barriers and provide so much information in such a short amount of time.”
What difference can a photo make? Humans are remarkably skilled at ignoring the damage our actions are causing to ourselves, to animals and the natural world, and continuing down the same destructive road. Many war photographers I’ve spoken to over the years expressed their sadness that reactions to their work weren’t greater, that public outrage didn’t end wars, help refugees, and feed and shelter the poor. We all see thousands of images each day in newspapers and magazines, on billboards, on TV and social media. Surviving this visual blitz means we’ve become masters at filtering, or ignoring, images.
But some pictures are too haunting to ignore, and when they cut through the noise, they can be an effective tool to produce meaningful change, like de la Malla’s “The Sad Clown,” which won the NHM Wildlife Photographer of the Year’s wildlife photojournalism category in 2018. De la Malla credits his photography, along with the work of Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN), with exposing the cruelty of macaque street shows, leading the Indonesian government to ban them. “Some photographic works have immediate repercussions, acting at a political level or creating legal prohibitions for activities that threaten animal welfare,” he says. “Other projects raise awareness about specific problems or make people question their relationship with other species we share the planet with. That’s also very important because it may end up bringing about a firmer and more lasting change in society.”
Creating lasting change is also what drives Canadian photojournalist and founder of We Animals Media Jo-Anne McArthur’s work, which she’s coined animal photojournalism (APJ). The emerging genre highlights the suffering of billions of animals (chickens, pigs, monkeys etc.) across the planet from human activities, including fur farms, factory farms and breeding facilities. Investigative reporters often face the risk of physical harm or arrest for working to expose the dark side of the animal industry.
Animal photojournalism is photography designed for maximum impact. “We’re not producing images for people’s walls,” McArthur explains. “These images are largely for campaigners. We provide material evidence for NGOs to show the public. They’re for the education of the general masses. We want them to end up in major media outlets. That’s our piece of the puzzle when it comes to changing things for animals. Journalists are out there to show the public what’s happening behind closed doors.”
McArthur co-edited, with Keith Wilson, the unsettling book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, which features the work of 40 photojournalists highlighting animal abuse and suffering. “One of the first steps in terms of changing and thinking critically is seeing,” says McArthur. “Of course, the content is extremely disturbing, but the best animal photojournalists are creating poignant photos, something you want to engage with despite the subject matter, because the image is so arresting. People aren’t just interested in pretty pictures. They’re interested in what’s important and relevant.”
German photographer Timo Stammberger, whose work features in HIDDEN, also uses photography to reveal what happens behind closed doors, including undercover work in pig breeding and broiler chicken facilities. “I hope to contribute to a public conversation about our human-animal relationship, providing a needed transparency about a destructive industry that operates mostly hidden from the public eye,” he explains. “Photography’s a language almost everybody can understand. Photos can be seen as visual ‘pieces of evidence’. They can be more convincing than words alone when presenting the reality of what’s happening in the world, such as the animal industry.”
Throughout history, photographers have covered terrible events and injustices not just to document, but in the hope of communicating with an audience and provoking a response: to bring positive benefits to the people, animals or places in their stories, change the narrative, halt suffering, or help deliver peace or justice. But the severity of the crises facing the planet, including biodiversity loss and environmental catastrophe, means photographers are increasingly merging journalism with activism. “Photography isn’t only a way to express myself and reflect on society and the times, but to contribute to positive change,” says Stammberger. “I’d like to inspire people to become actively outspoken against injustices and to put pressure on politicians to act. I believe every war, crisis or social justice photographer is an activist.”
German wildlife photojournalist Britta Jaschinski also uses her work to bring about change, with haunting images of footstools made from elephant feet or tigers and orangutans forced to perform in circus shows. Along with Keith Wilson, Jaschinski gathered together a collective of like-minded international photographers, including Paul Hilton and Steve Winter, as Photographers Against Wildlife Crime, who use their often disturbing images to try to bring an end to the global wildlife trade.
Jaschinski and Wilson’s book, Photographers Against Wildlife Crime, has made a global impact, including in China, one of the main drivers behind the global trafficking of wildlife parts (ivory, pangolin scales, rhino horn, tiger parts etc.). “We tell stories, which otherwise would be left untold,” Jaschinski explains. “It’s impossible to know what the world would look like without our impact — without our photos, our messages. But history has shown us that images can be instrumental to bring change, and visual storytelling is now more important than ever. At a minimum, a photo is a catalyst to thought, and at its best, it starts a movement or even resistance. In our case, people across the globe have joined us to help bring an end to the consumption of animals and nature. Without photojournalism, the world’s conscience would wither.”
Photography can reveal brutal truths. But it can also point to solutions. Just as Ansel Adams used landscape photography to protect the US’ wilderness areas, today animal photojournalists use visual storytelling to support organizations working to protect animals, from endangered species to farmed animals, promoting ideas from rewilding to Marine Protected Areas.
Photography also conveys the beauty and diversity of the natural world. It can show family bonds, relationships and the soulfulness of animals, bringing us eye-to-eye with gorillas, whales, elephants or cows. It can introduce people to species of fish, bird, insect or rodent they’ve never heard of. It’s also a warning of what we stand to lose if we continue down our current path.
From Ewaso Lions to Animal Equality, charities use photography on websites and social media to connect people with the species they care about, galvanising support for campaigns, raising funds, recruiting new members and changing consumer behaviour. Photography’s proven very effective in generating money for conservation. I served as an Advisor and supporting photographer for Pie Aerts and Marion Payr’s Prints For Wildlife, which, with two print sale fundraisers, has raised more than $1.75 million for African Parks.
Photography’s also at the heart of the New Big 5 project, an international conservation initiative I run, which created a New Big 5 of wildlife photography, an alternative to the traditional big five based on colonial-era trophy hunting — shooting with cameras, rather than guns. The project was supported by more than 250 photographers, conservationists and charities, including Jane Goodall, Ami Vitale, Art Wolfe, Paula Kahumbu, Save The Elephants and Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
The results of the public vote to decide a New Big 5 generated more than 1.5 billion media impressions worldwide in May 2021, getting connected wildlife issues covered in mainstream media including The Guardian, CNN, BBC, Sky and Forbes. As well as shifting thinking from killing animals to celebrating them with photography, the project’s main aim was to reach a global audience with urgent messages about habitat loss, the illegal wildlife trade, climate change and other threats to wildlife. “The New Big 5 consists of elephants, polar bears, gorillas, tigers and lions,” says Dutch photographer Marsel van Oosten, one of the project’s supporting photographers. “They’re a stark reminder of what’s at stake if we don’t change our ways.”
We live in challenging times, with critical decisions and actions needed to avert more human and animal suffering, biodiversity loss and environmental catastrophe. With misinformation, lies and conspiracy theories swirling around the internet, facts and evidence matter more than ever. Photography is vital. Governments, industries, companies and criminal gangs work to conceal damaging truths, which need to be exposed. Solutions and signs of hope also need to be revealed. Many already exist. They just need to be brought into focus.
Graeme Green is a journalist and photographer (www.graeme-green.com) who covers global issues, including wildlife and conservation, for international publications including The Guardian, BBC and New Internationalist, and founder of the New Big 5 project (www.newbig5.com)
