Sunday, May 5, 2024

‘Some of the darkest places in the world’: Joaquin Phoenix on a photobook about slaughterhouses

-

In Hidden, 40 photographers go inside factory farms and abattoirs to create a global indictment of the meat industry

  • Warning: contains images you may find upsetting

Slumped in the darkness of a narrow corridor lies a pig with hopeless eyes. Each strand of hair is defined, and every line, wrinkle and crease on its body seems to express the cruel conditions of its life. The photo, by Finnish photojournalist Kristo Muurimaa, is just one of the many shocking images compiled in the photo book Hidden. Created by photojournalist and animal rights activist Jo-Anne McArthur, Hidden sheds light on industrial scale factory farms and slaughterhouses and is an indictment of the meat industry.

McArthur and 39 photographers from 16 countries who contributed to the book are unflinching and unapologetic about what they reveal. “My best images are those when I am up close with a wide angle: the calf in the wheelbarrow, being put into a crate; the rabbit, ears back, visibly next in line for slaughter,” says Muurimaa.

Continue reading…