Africa
Luis Tato - Kenya
Luis Tato is a photojournalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. He began his visual education studying different drawing and painting techniques and later received a degree in audiovisual communication. His photography career began while covering Spain’s financial crisis for print media, news agencies and several NGOs. Since then, Luis has been a regular contributor to the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, while combining his work as a wire photographer covering East Africa for Agence France-Presse. His work has been published in numerous international titles, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Guardian, Financial Times, National Geographic, Der Spiegel, Die Welt, El País and El Mundo. His awards include first place prizes from Pictures of the Year International (POYI) and The Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Award.
Asia
Aaron Gekoski - Philippines
Aaron is an environmental photojournalist, filmmaker and TV presenter, specializing in human-animal conflict. He has hosted films across a number of networks and aims to make conservation accessible to all through entertaining and educational content. Aaron is founder and lead investigator at Raise the Red Flag, a global campaign to end cruelty in the Wildlife Tourism industry. His articles and images regularly appear in the international press and have won numerous awards, including the coveted Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
Adam Oswell - Thailand
Photographer
Adam is an Australian photographer specialising in wildlife trade and protection issues. His work has appeared in a wide range of media including Geographical, TIME Magazine, Science Magazine, The Guardian, Getty Images, Bloomberg, and Asian Geographic and has been exhibited at the Leica Gallery London, f³ – Freiraum für Fotografie Berlin and the Visa pour l’image awards Perpignan.
He has contributed to productions with the BBC, ABC Australia, the Natural Capital Project/NASA, Off the Fence Productions, Icon Films, The World Conservation Union (IUCN), The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), TRAFFIC, WWF International, Humane Society International, the United Nations Development Program and many others. Based in Thailand, he has worked and travelled extensively in Asia for over 20 years.
He is a contributing photographer to the newly released books Photographers Against Wildlife Crime and HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene, and produced the book Black Market: Inside the Endangered Species Trade in Asia, the first publication of its kind to extensively document international wildlife trade.
Adam is a contributor to the WWF-Canon Photo Database. He has documented illegal wildlife trade for over 20 years and has been documenting snow leopard conservation programs in the Altai mountains of western Mongolia since 2015.
Anipixels - India
Anipixels is an animal rescuer, bird rehabber and the founder of Anipixels.com. As a long-term vegan advocate living in India, Anipixels is also a self-taught photographer who started taking photographs while touring the country to document rescued street animals. The idea of the Anipixels image database came as a result of scouring the internet in order to make a photographic display about animal exploitation. By 2019, Anipixels had obtained a few thousand images of animals from all over India and Anipixels.com was launched, providing anyone working for animal protection instant access to free high-res photos of everything from street animals to farmed animals and wildlife. Anipixels is proud to have developed a comprehensive database to aid animal protection for all species in India.
Itsuka Yakumo - Japan
Photographer
Itsuka is a photographer and graphic artist. Areas of activity encompass a broad array of work that goes beyond the boundaries of industries, borders, and media, such as advertising, stage photos, video production, CI, product design, and documentaries. He engages in animal rights activities and is vegan. Itsuka resides in Tokyo with his rescue cat.
Justin Mott - Vietnam / USA
Wildlife Photojournalist
Justin Mott is an avid animal welfare advocate and in 2018 pivoted the focus of his work to wildlife photojournalism and conservation photography. He is currently working on his long-term global personal project titled Kindred Guardians. The project focuses on documenting people around the world who dedicate their lives to animal conservation and welfare and has been featured in National Geographic, The Washington Post, Paris Match, Smithsonian, Greenpeace, and Leica’s global website. Mott has shot over 100 assignments for the New York Times and resides in Vietnam and covers assignments globally.
Muhammad Fajri - Indonesia
Muhammad Fajri is a freelance visual journalist based in Indonesia with an interest in social and environmental issues. He started his career as a photojournalist while at university in 2009 and has covered various events, such as conflicts between citizens, politics, and natural disasters. His work has been published in various international media, including the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN International, The Times, The Telegraph, AlJazeera, The Atlantic, and National Geographic. Muhammad has participated in photo exhibitions entitled ‘Klas Balik’ (2013-2022) in Palembang and ‘Preventing Embers’ (2015) in Jakarta and has also contributed to the Hamdan International Photography Award (HIPA) photography book.
Napat Wesshasartar - Thailand
Photographer and Filmmaker
Napat Wesshasartar is an independent photographer and documentary filmmaker based in Bangkok, Thailand. His works have appeared in Thai and international media such as National Geographic Thailand, BBC Thai News and Norwegian Television. His main focus is on the relationship between people and natural world. Napat is also pursuing his master’s degree in Environemental Social Science.
Resha Juhari - Indonesia
Resha Juhari is an Indonesian photojournalist and documentary photographer. Their journey began in 2011 when studying photography in Bandung, Indonesia. Their photography focuses on documenting social, cultural and environmental issues, and conservation.
Ron Chiang - Taiwan
Ron Chiang is a Taiwanese photographer and designer based in Taipei who focuses on animal, advertisement and stage photography. As a student majoring in communication, he wants to change society and improve animal rights through photography and the stories behind every pictures he takes.
Seb Alex - Indonesia
Born and raised in Lebanon, Seb Alex moved to Europe in 2011 to pursue his career in Sustainable Architecture. Having worked with the UNHCR’s refugee program for a year, he then took the opportunity to enter the corporate world and work as an international project coordinator for an architecture company in Barcelona. A year after, he decided to leave his corporate life behind and dedicate his time to what speaks to his heart: animal rights advocacy. During the past few years, he has focused on photography again, using his camera to expose what animal agriculture industries try to hide from the public.
He is now working on creating social media content, organizing grassroots activism events, and helping run the world’s first animal rights and vegan support center, the Lebanese Vegans Social Hub in Beirut. Seb has launched his free e-book When Animal Rights & Logic Meet in 20 languages and is the host of the Principles of Change Podcast. He is the first We Animals Animal Photojournalism Fellow.
Sudip Maiti - India
Photojournalist & Documentary Filmmaker
Sudip Maiti is an independent photojournalist and documentary filmmaker based out of Kolkata, India. His primary focus is the production of long-term stories on climate change, environment, conservation and social issues. He is the winner of Chennai Photo Biennale 2023.
Shatabdi Chakrabarti - India
S. Chakrabarti is a freelance media professional, focussing on stories of wildlife, conservation and communities, based in India. As a filmmaker, photographer and writer, her work has been published and exhibited in both national and international platforms and events. She is a member of Her Wild Vision Initiative and has produced films, photoessays and articles for Vice, Mongabay, WWF-India, Round Glass Sustain and Nature in Focus, among others.
Vanessa Li - Hong Kong
Photographer
Vanessa Li is a storytelling photographer from Hong Kong. After graduating from university in 2018, she started capturing 100 individuals working different street jobs across Hong Kong as her first street photography project, “Hong Kong: 100 people, 100 street jobs.” Apart from documentary photography, she is also passionate about human rights stories.
Best described as approachable and tenacious, Vanessa’s ability to cross language barriers and her curiosity about new cultures further drive her to travel solo, befriend locals, and capture stories through intimate portraits.
Australia
Doug Gimesy - Australia
Conservation and Wildlife Photojournalist
Doug is a professional conservation and wildlife photojournalist who focuses on Australian issues. A Senior Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP), his clients include National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, bioGraphic, Australian Geographic, Audubon, and various newspapers. Initially graduating with a B.Sc in zoology and microbiology, he also holds a Masters of Environment, a Masters of Bioethics, and a Diploma of Education. Photographic achievements include winning the inaugural Wildscreen Panda award (2108) as well as being a finalist several times in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, the BigPicture Natural World and Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competitions.
Believing people should focus on the issues they care deeply about and those that are close to home, his recent work has focused on the conservation and animal welfare issues that face the platypus and the Grey-headed Flying-fox. Most recently, Doug has directly facilitated:
i) the banning of platypus-drowning fishing (Opera House) nets in his state of Victoria.
ii) the listing of the platypus as a vulnerable species in his state of Victoria, triggering a number of state protections in addition to raising awareness nationally for their plight.
iii) the banning ( based on animal welfare impacts) of barbed-wire from his local council area
He also he recently launched (with his partner Heather Kiley) a children’s book on Grey-headed Flying-foxes titled ‘Life Upside Down’, to try and build awareness and empathy for this often misunderstood species.
Doug’s current projects include; covering the cruel, illegal reptile trade out of Australia, the impact of bushfires and floods, and an ongoing series of portraits called ‘Wildlife Warriors, Conservation Champions and Animal Advocates’.
His hope is that the images and information he shares will inspire people to stop, think, and treat the world more kindly.
Farm Transparency Project - Australia
Farm Transparency Project (FTP) is a non-profit animal protection charity, dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals in farms, slaughterhouses and other commercial settings. Through comprehensive investigations, documentary films, and the creation of innovative tools and resources, FTP seeks to force industry transparency and educate consumers by shining a light on the brutal reality endured by animals in the name of profit.
Established under the name Aussie Farms in 2014, with the release of world-first footage of the carbon dioxide gas chambers used in pig slaughterhouses, it aimed at countering the myth that animal abuse doesn’t happen in Australia or that when it does happen, it’s an isolated incident. The ever-growing library of material began to prove beyond doubt that animal abuse is not only commonplace, but in fact inherent to industries that exploit or use animals for profit.
Farm Transparency Project operates under the belief that these industries rely on secrecy and deception, using marketing ploys such as “humanely slaughtered” and “free range,” and imagery depicting happy animals living out their days on rolling green hills in the sunshine; and that by breaking down this secrecy and making it easier for consumers to see the truth about what their purchases support, the commercialised abuse and exploitation of animals will slowly but surely come to an end. We believe that information – freely and readily accessible – is our greatest and most powerful tool.
Farm Transparency Project would like to acknowledge that our organisation operates on indigenous land. We acknowledge that this land was captured by gunpoint and genocide, and that sovereignty over this land was never ceded. We pay our respects to their Elders – past, present, and becoming, to their culture, and their unique connection to this land.
Gav Wheatley - Australia
Photographer and Videographer
A photographer and videographer by trade, Gav Wheatley devotes their time to helping animals by documenting their plight to effect change at a legislative level. Through Gav‘s lens, and a unique focus on the eyes of each individual, we see the animal for who they are and a glimpse into their personality, emotion and experience.
Guna Subramaniam - Australia
Guna Subramaniam has experience in the nonprofit sector across the Asia Pacific and Central Africa. This includes resettlement programs for refugees, managing investigations on wildlife trafficking, and technical expertise in the performing arts, music and screen.
As a filmmaker, he’s produced videos for development and environmental organizations. He has also managed projects on wildlife conservation and coordinated investigations on wildlife trafficking with NGOs and law enforcement agencies across borders. Guna was instrumental in successfully up-listing the slow loris/ Nyticebus spp to Appendix 1 at COP14 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
His work on protected species bycatch and depleting fish stocks led to his Masters research in International Community Development at Victoria University. He received an ‘Outstanding Achievement’ award for this research, which focused on gaps and blind spots among stakeholders involved in addressing human trafficking and forced labour in the fisheries sector.
Guna currently works on salient and emerging human rights issues with an international organization.
Kelly Dinham - Australia
Photographer
Kelly Dinham is an Australian-based photographer with a passion for making the world a kinder place for animals. For the past 14 years she’s been photographing rescued animals in sanctuaries, a commitment that was sparked by her early efforts to reveal injustices within the horse racing industry. Today, Kelly’s photography aims to connect people to the lives of farmed animals, supporting advocacy and education.
Kelsey Hannah - Australia
Kelsey Hannah is a self-taught photographer and the person behind the photojournalism project Animals Uncovered, which was established in 2016 when she started taking photos of animals destined for slaughter outside of abattoirs. Since then, Kelsey has worked independently and with grassroots organisations, photographing animals used for food and entertainment within Australia. Many of Kelsey’s images have been used in campaigns and resources by animal advocacy organisations, including Animal Liberation, PETA Australia and the Animal Save Movement. Kelsey hopes to connect the viewer with the animals she photographs and for them “to be seen as the individuals they are, each inherently deserving of freedom.”
Lissy Jane - Australia
Lissy Jayne felt a passion for social justice from an early age, pursuing studies in psychology, social work and sociology. Having grown up in the company of native species on a wildlife reserve in South Australia, she developed a special connection with animals and began contributing to investigations into animal exploitation industries. Two years later, Lissy founded Bear Witness Australia to expand her photojournalistic work in the animal advocacy field. She went on to work as assistant director in the exposé-style documentary film, Dominion, released in 2018. Lissy continues to operate Bear Witness Australia, documenting the stories of animals imprisoned on farms, slaughterhouses, hatcheries, rodeos and zoos across Australia. Her aim is to “raise awareness of the spectrum of exploitative situations which arise as a natural consequence of denying animals their inherent moral rights.”
Canada
Balvik C. - Canada
Photographer
Balvik C. is a photographer and antispeciesist abolitionist who has investigated many farms in Canada alongside various animal rights organizations. She believes that investigative work is essential as a catalyst for debate and change in society. Balvik C. is also actively involved in animal rescue and rehabilitation.
Emily Pickett - Canada
Photographer
Emily’s life-long love for animals has guided her work as an animal advocate and her focus in photography. She strives to use photography as a way to both celebrate the beauty and uniqueness of animals and as a means for raising awareness of the exploitation animals face at the hands of humans.
Evan Price - Canada
Photographer
Evan developed a passionate commitment to the reduction of animal suffering while on a five year bicycle journey through Asia and Africa, where the brutality inflicted on animals can be seen in broad daylight. He sought to capture these realities through photography.
Frank Metivier - Canada
Frank is an animal rights activist who dedicates most of his time defending animals. He advocates through various form of activism, and documents through film the powerful reality of animal lives. He loves creating impactful videos to touch people’s hearts about animals issues. Frank lives and travels in the “Vigorous Vegan Vagabond Van” and promotes veganism wherever he goes.
Ira Moon - Canada
Photographer
Ira Moon is a photographer and storyteller focusing on nonhuman animal and social justice issues. As an investigator for various animal protection organizations, Ira gained extensive experience working with animals. With a background in creative arts, Ira now dedicates their time to advocacy and documenting nonhuman animal exploitation with the hope of inspiring a greater concern for the least empowered among us.
Jo-Anne McArthur - Canada
Animal Photojournalist
HIDDEN creator and co-editor Jo-Anne McArthur is an award-winning photojournalist, who has been documenting the hidden lives of animals for nearly two decades. In that time, she has travelled to over 60 countries to photograph people’s complex and disturbing treatment of animals for her non-profit organization, We Animals. Jo-Anne is the recipient of many awards for her photography, including the 2017 Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award, from the Natural History Museum, London. An acclaimed speaker, she speaks internationally on the topics of the human-animal relationship, social change, and empathy. Jo-Anne makes her work freely available to anyone advocating for animals via the We Animals Archive. HIDDEN is Jo-Anne’s third book.
Julie LP - Canada
Julie LP has been campaigning for the rights of non-human animals since 2017. She is anti-speciesist, feminist and interested in the intersectionality of social justice struggles. She has been a dedicated volunteer at a farm animal sanctuary for over four years. She studied cinema, which meant that she developed her critical and artistic sense.
Julie O'Neil - Canada
Photojournalist
Inspired by the power of photography, Julie O’Neill uses her camera to expose the exploitation of animals around the world. Since receiving a bachelor of photography in 2003, she has documented the endless suffering of animals of all species in a wide variety of circumstances. To counterbalance the pain she has witnessed, she has volunteered with many organisations that rescue animals and work to change people’s hearts and minds. Julie and her family have recently purchased a large piece of forest in Canada, where, for decades, animals were hunted and killed. Now, she says, “this land has been transformed into a place of protection, refuge and peace for animals and humans alike.”
karol orzechowski - Canada
karol orzechowski is an animal advocate with a passion for blending activism and art. In addition to participating in numerous investigations and directing short films on various animal issues, karol is the director of Maximum Tolerated Dose, a full-length documentary about the psychological toll of vivisection on both animals and humans. He completed a Bachelor of Environmental Studies and an MA in Communications and Culture at York University, writing theses on nationalism and the Atlantic seal hunt, and Canadian rodeo culture, respectively.
Louise Jorgensen - Canada
An animal rights activist and graphic artist, Louise Jorgensen has worked on advertising and website development projects and donated her skills to the creation of public transit ads, billboards, and websites for animal rights campaigns. After moving to a rural part of Canada, she saw first-hand the reality faced by animals raised for food on farms, sold at auction and sent to slaughterhouses. As a self-taught photographer, Louise focuses on individual animals to help others see them with a new perspective: “as unique persons with a capacity to suffer that is equal to our own.” In 2018, she was nominated for the Lisa Grill Compassion for Animals Award. Louise is a mother to three sons, a guardian of four dogs, and her home is a sanctuary to rescue dogs and small animals liberated from our food system.
Michael Buckley - Canada
Photographer
Michael Buckley is a professional photographer based in Alberta, Canada. His career started as a photojournalist working for newspapers and magazines and now through his photography he attempts to convey the natural world, emotional moments, and the essence of animal lives. The subjects he meets, and gets to know through his line of work, continually humble him.
Nick Schafer - Canada
Nick Schafer is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker and photographer. In recent years, Nick has applied his media skills as a form of animal advocacy. He has documented and exposed the horrific realities that farmed animals face, putting himself in extremely dangerous situations in order to get the most compelling shots. Nick is one of four activists – now known as the “Excelsior 4” – facing severe criminal charges after exposing animal cruelty at Excelsior Hog Farm in Abbotsford, BC. Nick and his co-defendants are facing years in prison as a result of this work. Ultimately, Nick believes that if the public saw the animal victims, and what is truly happening to them inside farms and slaughterhouses, that most people would no longer support this violent industry.
Patricia Homonylo - Canada
Photographer / Videographer
Patricia is a Canadian artist, photographer and videographer who has achieved her BA, BFA and MFA. While focusing on wildlife rescue, Patricia quickly learned that every animal in a rescue is the product of human interference. As habitats continue to dwindle, non-human beings are struggling to survive. Her current work focuses on Government culls: animals living on the edge between survival and slaughter. Patricia wants her work to shine a light on animals being condemned for human problems. In addition, Patricia has turned her camera on to the people who roll up their sleeves and do the hard work of rescue, dedicated individuals who sacrifice it all for their chosen species.
Her images have supported the efforts of The Mad Dog Initiative (Madagascar), Hope for Wildlife, FLAP, Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, and The National Wildlife Centre.
Raymond Cruzzola (World Change Media) - Canada
Raymond Cruzzola is the founder of World Change Media, using his skill sets to help reduce suffering in the world. World Change Media works intimately with not-for-profits and grassroots organizations to present their messages in the most impactful way possible.
Roberta Olenick - Canada
Roberta Olenick is a wildlife photographer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. By academic training, she is an animal ecologist with a Master’s degree in Zoology. Before she picked up a camera, she worked as a natural history writer and as an environmental activist for Earth Island Institute and Ecojustice Canada. Over the objections of her parents, she became a vegetarian at age nine.
Suzanne Goodwin - Canada
Suzanne is a freelance photographer, artist, and animal rights activist based on Canada’s West Coast. She has worked in a variety of photographic genres, from live music to creating conceptual fine art, but has always been inspired by the power of documentary imagery. After viewing undercover investigative footage from a slaughterhouse, she felt compelled to use her photography skills to advocate for animals. In documenting and sharing the obscured truths of animal lives, Suzanne has photographed animals used for entertainment and sport, animals in transport, and those exploited and hidden away in the animal industry supply chains. She participates in animal advocacy events and volunteers and documents the rescue and re-homing of surrendered farmed animals with PEACE Canada.
Victoria de Martigny - Canada
Photographer
Victoria de Martigny is a Canadian freelance photographer and animal rights activist based in Montreal. Her photography is aimed at inspiring people to become more active in their efforts to help animals and to expose the reality that animals are subjected to in animal exploitation industries. She is a member of the Animal Protection Party of Canada, North America’s first political party dedicated solely to the protection of all animals and the environment.
Vinyse Barber - Canada
Photographer
Vinyse is based in Toronto, Canada and spends her time exploring the city’s vegan food scene. She shares photos of her food adventures to show everyone that vegan food is not only delicious but incredibly diverse.
Europe
Alex Lockwood - UK
Filmmaker
I’m a passionate documentary and narrative film maker with a focus on issues of ethics. I recently received a BAFTA win for my documentary 73 Cows which was a no budget short film. It’s hugely important to me that I work on the right kind of project. Ultimately, films have a huge impact on the world, and the idea that through film I myself could make an impact is the reason I make films.
Amy Jones - UK
Photographer
Amy Jones is the photographer behind Moving Animals. Since 2018, she has worked on the ground across seven different countries to document the plight of animals. Her work has informed and strengthened the campaigns of multiple animal advocacy groups and has featured in over 150 media outlets. She was recently awarded both Best Overall and Winner of the Animal Welfare category for her photo essay “Next in Line” in the International Vegan Film Festival, and a selection of her photographs were published in the seminal book, HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene. She believes in the power of photography to create change and start conversations around how we view and treat animals.
Ana Palacios - Spain
Photojournalist
Ana Palacios is a journalist and documentary photographer focused on human rights, shining a light on broken systems in collaboration with NGOs such as Manos Unidas, Trampled Rose and UNICEF.
She graduated in Journalism at the University of Navarre in Pamplona, Spain, followed by film and photography studies at the University of California in Los Angeles, where she lived for several years.
Her work has been awarded, exhibited, and published worldwide in National Geographic, The Guardian Weekend Magazine, Al Jazeera, Stern, Der Spiegel, New Internationalist, Daily Mail, Terra Mater, 6 Mois, Days Japan, XL Semanal, Papel, El País, and Tiempo.
She has published three books: Albino, about the plight of the albinos in Tanzania; Art in Movement, about the art as a social change in Uganda; and Slave Children: The Back Door, about the reinsertion of slave children in West Africa. She has directed her first documentary on this last topic.
Ana is a public speaker at universities, photography festivals and educational centers, educating and inspiring others about human rights. She is also a member of national and international photo contest juries.
Andrew Skowron - Poland
Animal photographer Andrew Skowron worked as a photo reporter in media for 14 years, followed by eight years focusing on farm animal photography, starting with a major project on live animal transport. After quitting media work altogether, he decided to dedicate his photography to the fight for animal rights, working for two animal advocacy organisations in Poland, Otwarte Klatki and Anima International. Through his work, Andrew is committed to revealing how animals are treated, the conditions they live in, and how they are transported and ultimately killed for human consumption. Through his images, Andrew tries to “make visible the blurry line between being a living being and a product.” His work has been published by National Geographic Polska, Bored Panda, Publico, Gaia and other international titles, and are used in animal rights campaigns all over the world.
Anzhelika Kozachenko - Ukraine
Photographer
Anzhelika Kozachenko is a photographer based in Kyiv, Ukraine. She just recently started photography and photo editing and hopes to eventually make this her full-time work. Anzhelika uses her photography skills to support animal charity and rescue projects working to create change for animals, something that she’s very passionate about.
Benjamin Blomstedt - Finland
With a deep-seated belief that investigations and direct action are the most effective means of creating positive change for animals, Benjamin Blomstedt spends his time working tirelessly to raise awareness of the plight of animals and the impact of human actions on their lives. Despite some considering him eccentric for preferring to document death and suffering at farms over hanging out with friends, he believes that these graphic images are essential to raising public awareness and spurring action. Ben’s commitment to his cause extends to organizing events and initiatives to engage others in the animal rights movement. His love of the night and willingness to sneak around in the dark make him a fearless advocate for animal rights, inspiring others to work alongside him to create a better world for animals everywhere.
Chris Shoebridge - UK
Photographer, Filmmaker and Activist
Chris is a self-taught photographer and filmmaker based in the UK and Europe. Originally working with organizations like the BBC, the National Trust and Swim England, Chris is now focused on animal protection and veganism, producing short documentaries, undercover investigations and promotional films to help bring about a kinder world. His work has appeared internationally, in more than thirty magazines, and has been exhibited at the BFI in London.
Christian Faesecke - Germany
Photographer
Christian was born in Kiel, Germany in 1979. For over ten years he has been working as a trained orthopedic technician, specialized in prosthetics for amputees. In his photo reports he sheds light on the circumstances surrounding the global production and sale of goods, and shows the working conditions of people who are generally not seen or recognized by the end consumer.
Come Closer Project - Netherlands
Photographer
Come Closer Project is a photographer who started his journey as animal rights activist in 2017 and decided to pick up his first camera to continue street activism for animal and human rights, learning the craft in the process. In 2019, he participated in many different actions as a photographer for Meat the Victims, Direct Action Everywhere, Animal Resistance and Animal Rebellion in Netherlands, France, Belgium and the UK. Since then he has actively supported the animal rights movement as a photographer for The Save Movement, Anti-Bont and NARD.
Come Closer Project’s goal is to present to the audience the most realistic documentation, so they may experience the emotional power of the images. “We often focus on bad conditions in which animals have been kept and treated, while forgetting that people often don’t see them as sentient beings and that’s what I also want to show.” Recently he has started working with NGOs investigating different industries.” Recently he has started working with NGOs investigating different industries.
Dario Endara - Netherlands
Photographer
Dario Endara is an American photographer based in the Netherlands. Over the years, he has travelled throughout the world capturing images of people, landscapes, cities, and above all, nature. He’s always had a passion for wildlife photography as he always knew this is where animals belonged — in the wild. After going vegan in 2017, he started to become more active as an animal rights activist and used his camera to capture all forms of animal exploitation. His goal is to show the public the way we as humans exploit animals and to create positive change in the minds of the public towards a more compassionate world.
Deniz Tapkan Cengiz - Turkey
Photographer
Deniz Tapkan Cengiz is a photographer and zoologist living in Istanbul. They have taken photos in more than 60 countries and cities of the world, mainly documenting artwork, art galleries and artist portraits, and received an Honorary Award from the International Photo Awards (2021) for a photograph capturing the pandemic. Vegan since 2014, Deniz also photographs and documents animal lives.
Ed Shephard - UK
Investigator
Ed Shephard is a freelance investigator and self-taught photographer based in the UK. For more than 20 years, he’s worked across Europe and worldwide exposing cruel and exploitative animal industries from fox hunting to fur farming and has a particular interest in farmed animal issues.
Ester Dobiášová - Czechia
Ester, a freelance journalist, writer and photographer from the Czech Republic, combines her academic background in literature and art with her desire to protect animals and nature. During her six-year career in environmental protection, she has done marketing, created communication campaigns and engaged the public. Currently, Ester is looking for a way to effectively protect farm animals. Her vision is to contribute to a world where all creatures, not just humans, fall under our moral compass.
Francesco Ceccarelli - Italy
Francesco Ceccarelli is the investigations manager at Essere Animali.
Francesco Pistilli - Italy
Francesco Pistilli is an Italian freelance photojournalist and videographer whose work has been published widely in international magazines and newspapers. He is the recipient of the World Press Photo award 2018 for his series, Lives in Limbo. Francesco’s assignments have taken him across Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Central America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. He has worked with several NGOs, including Open Society Foundations, Action.org, Emergency (IT) and Greenpeace Philippines. Francesco’s photography has been featured in leading international newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, Politico, Wired, TIME, Elle, Vanity Fair, as well as by the BBC.
Havva Zorlu - Turkey
Photographer
Havva Zorlu is a photographer and animal rights activist based in Turkey. She started taking photographs at a young age with the dream of becoming a photojournalist, and uses photography as a means of expression. Her photography mostly consists of documentary photography and experimental image production techniques.
She graduated from Dokuz Eylül University Fine Arts Faculty Photography Department in 2022. Today she takes photographs to contribute to the struggle for animal rights by defending the right to life and freedom for all species.
James Gibson - UK
James has a strong passion for animals and animal rights and after seeing the work of We Animals, knew he wanted to participate. He provides his services for free to animal sanctuaries in a bid to spread awareness of the animal world that is often hidden from us.
Jon Amad - Spain
Jon Amad has been helping animals in different fields and areas for more than ten years, conducting rescues and investigations in over 30 countries. He has been an investigative photographer for Animal Equality, PETA, Animal Angels and the Parliament of the European Union, with publication in National Geographic, The Times, and other international media. Jon has an MBA in Business Management and a Masters in International Trade, and founded the first animal sanctuary of Spain: El Hogar ProVegan. He is currently the director of the ProVegan Foundation in Spain, and acts as a consultant for different initiatives around the world.
Juho Kerola - Finland
Born and raised on a dairy farm in Finland, Juho Kerola crossed paths with animal rights activism later in life than many, and found his niche in direct investigations and photojournalism as the most effective tool for change. In Finland, Juho is best known for slaughterhouse investigations and photographs of dairy, poultry and pig farms. Since 2016, his photographs from Finnish fur farms have reached an international audience with publication in many major print and online outlets.
Konrad Lozinski - Poland
A Polish animal rights activist and photographer, Konrad Lozinski is a regular contributor to animal rights campaigns by Otwarte Klatki (Anima International), Animal Equality, Vegan Outreach, Animal Justice Project and many more. Whenever possible, he also complements his images with his words, writing about anti-fur campaigns and welfare issues, or interviewing other activists. Konrad’s photography focuses on undercover investigations of animal exploitation on factory farms. Most of these are conducted as part of assignments for animal rights groups, while others are done as independent projects. The key principle of Konrad’s subversive work is the representation of animals as individuals.
Kristo Muurimaa - Finland
Kristo Muurimaa has worked as an animal rights investigator since 2006. While he professes not to know much about framing an image and sometimes struggles to get the exposure right, he’ll “stubbornly wade through snow, swamps and manure to photograph the dark corners of our relationship with animals.” Kristo’s photography gained global attention in 2017 when his images of “monster foxes” on Finnish fur farms were published widely in international titles, including Newsweek, Mail Online and The Mirror. He is also the author of Animal Factories, a photobook on the relationship between humans and non-human animals.
Lukas Vincour - Czech Republic
Photographer
Lukas Vincour is an animal liberation activist and a photographer from the Czech Republic. He is co-founder of the vegan organization Zvirata Nejime (We Don’t Eat Animals) and one of the co-authors and directors of a documentary film about animal abuse in the Czech Republic, Svedectvi (Testimony). Through his work he is trying to draw attention to the suffering of innocent beings.
Matt Armstrong-Ford - UK
Photographer
Matthew Armstrong-Ford is a photographer based in the UK, and who has worked as a private safari guide for 10 years. Matthew mainly focuses on photographic interests for clients in wilderness areas, and has recently established a high-end travel company, Armstrong-Fortescue. He has been vegan for four years and since COVID has set his lens to animal welfare spaces.
Milos Bicanski - Greece
Photographer
Milos Bicanski is a photographer based in Athens, Greece who has focused on news and conflict and, in last decade, environmental photography. Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Milos began his career covering the tumultuous events surrounding the breakup of Yugoslavia for Serbian magazines and newspapers. As a contributor to the European Press Photo Agency in the late 1990s and Getty Images today, his photographs have appeared in all major newspapers around the world. Witnessing the 2007 forest fire destruction on the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, Milos started shifting his interest toward environmental and animal photojournalism. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including prizes from Days Japan, Humanity Photo Awards hosted by UNESCO and CFPA, and PX3.
Nathalie Merle - France
Photographer
Nathalie Merle is a self-taught photographer with a background in clinical pharmacy and healthcare administration. Her photographic interests revolve around the human-animal relationship, health and well-being. She aims to capture what she refers to as the “healing hand” with an attempt to restore a momentary appreciation of our own humanity and ability to end or minimize suffering. She tries to position her work as a lead-by-example by showing the good we are so capable of, which sometimes requires great skill and/or an inordinate amount of ressources to make things right. A major focus of Nathalie’s work is to capture hope that we can shift from destroying and killing to fixing and saving.
Niels Vogensen - Denmark
Niels Vogensen is a Danish-Peruvian documentary filmmaker.
Odysseas Chloridis - Greece / Iceland
Photographer
Odysseas is a freelance photographer/photojournalist from Thessaloniki, Greece, covering environmental, social and political issues across Europe. He has studied Contemporary Photography at Stereosis School of Photography, working extensively with analogue and digital mediums, and has worked with organizations across Greece and Turkey for the protection of sea turtles, bears and wolves. He is currently based in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Oikeutta Eläimille - Finland
Activism Organization
Oikeutta Eläimille (Rights for Animals) is an animal rights organization that strives to improve the status of animals in society. According to the association, the relationship between humans and animals should be based on reciprocity and not on the one-sided pursuit of profit by humans.
Orwell - Sweden
Based in southern Sweden, Orwell is a self-taught videographer whose goal is to contribute to a better world.
Paul Hilton - UK / Australia / Hong Kong
Paul Hilton is a conservation photojournalist and film-maker based in Hong Kong. His fearlessness and passion have taken him across the globe, following wildlife trade industries from fishing ports in Yemen and the Middle East to the Pacific high seas, as well as documenting deforestation and land clearing for palm oil in Indonesia. His undercover footage of the illegal wildlife trade featured heavily in the 2015 film, Racing Extinction. In partnership with Wild Aid and Manta Trust, Paul set up the Manta Ray of Hope project to document the plight of the great rays and to investigate the use of gill-rakers in traditional Chinese medicine. He is a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers, a contributor to Photographers Against Wildlife Crime™ and recipient of numerous awards, including prizes from World Press Photo and Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Pierre Parcoeur - France
Pierre Parcoeur is an animal advocate and photographer based in Paris, France. He formerly worked for a French animal rights association as an investigator documenting inside factory farms and slaughterhouses. Today Pierre works as a photographer and video director, utilizing his skills to raise awareness about animal exploitation.
Rafael Bastante - Spain
Rafael Bastante is a freelance photojournalist focused on social and environment issues, with an interest in anthropology and cultural traditions. He has lived for three years in the Middle East and Asia, developing an intimate knowledge of these regions, and believes that photography should be a tool to promote change.
Rebecca Cappelli - Switzerland
Videographer / Photographer
Rebecca Cappelli is an award-winning filmmaker and public speaker based in Switzerland. She is the director of SLAY (2022) investigating the skin trade in fashion in seven countries, and Let Us Be Heroes (2018). French, fluent in English and Chinese mandarin, Rebecca has lived in Asia for over 18 years. She leads the non-profit project Let us be Heroes to empower people to become a line of defence for vulnerable communities, the planet and the animals. Rebecca is also a photographer and an animal rescuer.
Roee Shpernik (Glass Walls) - Israel
Photographer
The Glass Walls Association was founded in October 2014 by Tal Gilboa and Roee Spernik with the aim of exposing the torture that animals go through in industries that abuse and oppress them and that produce products from them through systematic acts of murder and extreme cruelty.
From 2013, when the work of documentation began, until today, they have documented hundreds of industrial facilities in Israel, conducted investigations, lectures and films widely distributed on social networks that had a great impact on revealing the reality to the public, which also led to large waves of new vegans.
They manage strong Facebook pages, a YouTube channel and Instagram and continue to spread the word; act on many levels to expose the severe damages of these industries also to the environment and health; and promote plant-based food in society.
Savaş Onur Şen - Turkey
Photographer
Savaş Onur Şen is a Turkish photographer based in Van, Turkey. He has graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Communication, Department of Journalism. He holds a master’s degree in photography and a Ph.D. in photojournalism. He works at Van Yuzuncu Yil University as an Assistant Professor and freelance photojournalist. Savaş Onur Şen uses photography to tell stories and these days is focused on the stories of animals who live in urban environments.
Sabina Diethelm - Switzerland
Photographer
Sabina Diethelm is a freelance photographer based in Winterthur, Switzerland. She is passionate about creating beautiful and meaningful imagery of people, animals and their stories that go beyond the obvious. Having worked as a freelance journalist since her teens while studying languages and later becoming editor-in-chief of a magazine, she knows the importance of good storytelling and how much images can move us.
Her work has been exhibited at the largest photography exhibition in Switzerland (photoSCHWEIZ) twice and published in several magazines.
Sabine Grootendorst - Netherlands
An important factor in the photography of Sabine Grootendorst is what she calls her honest interest in the topics she documents. “As a child, I was always interested in animals,” she says. “Growing up, these interests also grew up. Themes about animals and nature turned into interests in sustainability, the ecosystem, the human footprint, the future of our food and the future of our planet in general.” A graduate of the Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague, Sabine is passionate about using her images to connect a larger audience to these topics. “These days it is easy to be critical, we all are, and we all should be. It seems harder to find a solution, especially when we seem to be comfortable with only knowing one side of the story. My work is intended to shake this up a bit. When we are open to new perspectives the process of change seems a bit closer.”
Selene Magnolia - Germany
Selene Magnolia is an Italian freelance photojournalist and investigator. With a background in grassroots activism, her work spans issues relating to social justice, anthropology, human rights, feminism, animals, the environment and food production.
Stefano Belacchi - Italy
Stefano Belacchi was 20 and a politically active student when he started taking part in animal rights campaigns in Italy. After a few years of local campaigns against fur, vivisection and other actions, he co-founded the animal rights group, Essere Animali (Being Animals). Stefano has been working with them for several years, participating as a photographer in their investigations. In recent years, he has also worked with Animal Equality on investigations into chicken farms in Italy, and with Aussie Farms on the documentary film about animal exploitation in Australia, Dominion,. In 2017, with the philosopher Benedetta Piazzesi, Stefano published Un Incontro Mancato (A Missed Meeting), an essay about animal rights photo-reporting. Stefano also works as a hiking guide in the forests and mountains of central and northern Italy. In his spare time, he enjoys rock climbing around Italy.
Timo Stammberger - Germany
Documentary photographer Timo Stammberger grew up in Hamburg and Frankfurt/Main, then studied photography at the Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie, Berlin, where he now lives. Through his work, Timo focuses on contemporary social issues, striving to make visible the discrimination faced by humans and non-human animals. His striking projects focusing on industrial farming include The Lives of Others, Habitat, Tools, and Duck for Christmas. Timo’s work has been published in European print and online media, including Metropolis Magazine, Spiegel Online, Fluter, Greenpeace Magazine, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Surprise Magazine and der Freitag. His photographic clients also include the International Rescue Committee and Berliner Stadtmission.
Tom Woollard - UK
Tom Woollard is a freelance photographer based in Yorkshire, UK. Having traveled to many countries as a commercial, editorial & documentary photographer, since becoming vegan and diving into grassroots activism he is now putting the teachings of the We Animals Masterclass into action; using the medium of photography as a contribution to the animal justice & liberation movement as well as issues of social change.
Tunahan Turhan - Turkey
Photojournalist
Since 2017, Tunahan Turhan has documented the news in various Turkish cities, particularly Istanbul and Ankara. He’s been a freelance photojournalist for broadcasting and press organizations and graduated from Istanbul University’s Department of Journalism. Tunahan has won numerous awards in the field of press photography and has had his work featured on AP, TASS, SIPA USA, Getty Images, Times Guardian, The Telegraph, The Economist, Financial Times, Wall Street, and BBC.
Zuzana Mit - Slovakia
Photographer
Zuzana Mit founded and runs a civic association where she publishes children’s books, and is the author and co-author of several books. She leads the initiative Živávlna, which is dedicated to education and awareness about animal rights and the impact of animal agriculture on the planet, animals and people.
Originally from Bratislava, Slovakia, Zuzana has a degree in Social Pedagogy. Several of the books she has published have been awarded in the Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia competition or included among the finalists of the National Design Award. Some have been translated and published in other countries, such as Hungary, France, Czech Republic, Canada and Taiwan. In 2022, she was listed by the philanthropic Pontis Foundation as one of the 200 Social Innovators of Slovakia.
Mexico and South America
Angel Giovanni Hoyos - Argentina
Angel Giovanni Hoyos was born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1992. At the age of 18, he decided to study cinema and emigrated to Buenos Aires. He has worked with directors including Natalia Smirnoff, Cecilia Atán and Julian D’angolillo, and production companies such as Cinecolor, Tronco, 1staveMachine, Tarea Fina and El Perro en La Luna. Angel has Collaborated as both director and editor, and has been part of artistic groups and activists for human rights, such as the artivist collective Articiclo, with which he carried out audiovisual pieces and mapping. His first feature film as a director is MAREA VERDE and he is currently producing his second documentary feature, TERRICIDIO.
Dulce Ramírez - Mexico
Photographer
The executive director of Igualdad Animal Mexico since 2012, Dulce Ramirez has been an animal rights activist for over a decade.She has created successful campaigns promoting compassionate plant-based diets to reduce consumption of animal products. Dulce has lobbied federal and state legislation criminalizing animal cruelty, including abolishing animal circuses and bullfighting, as well as initiatives to include farm animals in Mexico’s current animal protection laws. She has led a team of undercover investigators and served as an investigator documenting the abuses and cruelty of industrial animal agriculture in Mexico.
Gabriela Penela - Chile
Photographer
Gabriela Penela is a Chilean photographer, animal rights activist and founder of the project El Foco Animal. In 2010 she started to create a visual record of the conditions animals were forced to live in across various agricultural industries. Since 2015, her work has mainly focused on portraying rescued farm animals who are now permanent residents of Santuario Igualdad. Her work exposes what animals are subjected to in the name of industry and provides a glimpse into the unique personalities of the individuals who were rescued from these places. Her goal is to send an encouraging message and to promote empathy while raising awareness about how these sentient beings who want to live in peace are treated as nothing more than commodities.
Martina Victoria Zamudio - Argentina / Germany
Photographer
Martina Victoria Zamudio is a photographer and activist from Argentina. She started her career in 2012 photographing abandoned dogs and from that moment she always tried to combined her two closest passions: helping animals and the planet through photography and communication.
In 2021 she edited her first photobook, Salva, about activists who protest in front of slaughterhouses (The Save Movement). That same year she co-created an online activist training program, and during 2020 created a social media community called SomosMilesOrg, where she and other community members campaigned against pig farms and for other animal rights.
Renata Valdivia - Chile
Renata became an activist at 17 and hasn’t stopped since. They’ve volunteered as a documentary filmmaker and undercover investigator. They want to raise awareness of what animals go through when they’re exploited for human benefit, and how different their lives can be when they aren’t – like those lucky few who live in sanctuaries – and video is their best tool to document animals’ lives.
Voicot - Argentina
Activism Organization
Voicot is an artistic movement that is against all forms of animal exploitation.
USA
Alex Akamine - USA
Alex is a full-time freelance photographer who was born, raised and lives in San Francisco. He specializes in events and portraits and mentors youth to express themselves creatively through the organization First Exposures.
Alexis Liohn - USA
Alexis Liohn has been a long-time animal rights advocate filming undercover abuse at rodeos, illegal pigeon shoots and tethered dogs used for dog fighting or hunting. She regards animal rights as a social justice issue and has been vegan for 19 years, has advocated for the importance of humane education in schools and volunteered at animal shelters, a wildlife sanctuary and horse rescue. She considers it a gift to document the horses at Saffyre Sanctuary Inc. and those who stay by their side. She believes it is important to shine a spotlight in areas where the plight of our fellow animals needs to be seen and heard in order to help them. She has been inspired by numerous animal photojournalists, Jo-Anne McArthur and Justin Mott in particular. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and Master’s in Art.
Bobby Sud - USA
Bobby Sud is a photographer and cinematographer, and as an organizer for LA Animal Save he has been photographing animals at vigils for almost seven years. As a cinematographer Bobby has worked with Shaun Monson, Moby and Million Dollar Vegan.
Bridget Laudien - USA
Bridget Laudien is a portrait photographer whose work has varied greatly over the course of her career, which spans nearly two decades. She uses long term projects to draw awareness to the aspects of life she is most passionate about. Lifers began in 2009 as an ongoing exploration into the oppressive and paradoxical nature of zoos and aquaria through animal photojournalism. Bridget holds a Bachelor of Arts in photography; her work has been published and internationally exhibited.
Henry Hopkins - USA
Henry Hopkins is Founder and Director of Photography of H2 Video, a full service video production company in the San Franscisco Bay Area. Henry has been a long time vegan and is passionate about educating the public about the reality of our industrialized food system.
Justin Mott - Vietnam / USA
Justin Mott is an avid animal welfare advocate and in 2018 pivoted the focus of his work to wildlife photojournalism and conservation photography. He is currently working on his long-term global personal project titled Kindred Guardians.The project focuses on documenting people around the world who dedicate their lives to animal conservation and welfare and has been featured in National Geographic, The Washington Post, Paris Match, Smithsonian, Greenpeace, and Leica’s global website. Mott has shot over 100 assignments for the New York Times and resides in Vietnam and covers assignments globally.
Kelly Guerin - USA
Kelly Guerin is a documentary filmmaker and photographer who has been directing, shooting, and editing around the world since 2014. She works independently, as well as in partnership with We Animals and other animal protection organizations, to tell stories ranging in topics from factory farming, environmental protection, and the shared path of human and animal rights. Kelly is based in Durham, NC, happy with a small flock of misfit rescue animals.
Laura Lee Cascada - USA
Laura Lee Cascada is an activist, writer and mermaid based in Virginia. She has led impactful advocacy campaigns to create a more just, sustainable food system for more than 15 years and is the founder of Plight of the Hermies, a grassroots initiative fighting the wild hermit crab souvenir trade. Through her blog, the Every Animal Project, she shares powerful true stories and photographs of animals around the world, inviting readers to step inside the often unseen emotional lives of nonhuman animals. Laura also uses her Vegan Mermaid Warrior social media presence to produce creative videos to help sea life, and published her debut novel, Dellie’s Run, in 2019.
Miguel Endara - USA
Filmmaker and Director
Miguel Endara is a director, filmmaker and co-founder of Vidara Films, a film production company dedicated to creating films about veganism and animal rights. Through his work, he hopes to expose truths, challenge norms, and show us realities that will help make the world a better, more humane place.
Molly Condit - USA
Molly Condit began her professional career in the post production field in 2006, working primarily in broadcast media and notably as an assistant film editor for the Oscar-winning feature length documentary “Man on Wire” (2009) under Jinx Godfrey. After a short stint in the veterinary world and forming her own jewelry design company, Molly found her calling as a commercial and portrait photographer. For the past nine years, she has cemented a passion for documenting humans and especially animals, and the inextricable bonds between them. Her dedication for animal advocacy has led to work with domestic rescue organizations and sanctuaries as well as volunteer work abroad most recently documenting animal transport across borders in Ukraine and Poland. Based in Arizona, she’s fortunate enough to live with rescue felines who remind her daily just how lucky she is to be their human.
Nikki Ritcher - USA
Throughout her 20 years experience, Nikki has created a vast photographic portfolio ranging from corporate conferences, portraiture, outdoor lifestyle, and company branding. During COVID-19, Nikki was able to shift her photographic efforts to passion-driven documentary projects focused on conservation and animal advocacy.
Fighting for our planet and our oceans, she volunteers on direct action campaigns with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as their on-board photographer. At home in her community, she’s an active search and rescue volunteer where she currently resides in Northern California with her partner and dog.
Roger Kingbird - USA
Roger Kingbird has worked as a veterinarian in the United States for 20 years. He believes that compassion, beneficence and a capacity to value the individual lives of all animals must be the foundation of veterinary medicine. Kingbird provides care and advocacy for vulnerable animals whose plight is hidden from the public’s view. He is currently studying to be a humane educator and writer, and aspires to cultivate greater respect among humans for the innate dignity and sentience of every living being.
Scott Wilson - USA
Scott Wilson is a Colorado-based wildlife photographer and photo-advocate, publishing as WilsonAxpe Photography. Scott is a committed conservationist whose coverage of wild horse roundups in Colorado, USA, have brought significant media and political attention to the plight facing wild horses in the western United States. When Scott won the Natural World and Wildlife Award at the 2022 Sony World Photography Awards and was named Open Photographer of the Year in the same competition, he used the platform to increase public attention on the threats to wild horses and built a photojournalism exhibition in his home City of Denver, Colorado, shining a light on “The Wild Unfree.”
Shannon Johnstone - USA
Photographer
Shannon Johnstone’s photographic work deals with themes that reclaim what has been discarded and make visible that which is hidden. Her project, “Landfill Dogs” was most notably on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer (2013), and CNN.com (2014). Her newest work, “Roadside Zoo” won an Honorable Mention in the International Photography Awards (2021), and one photograph from the series is currently a Finalist in the 2023 BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition. Johnstone is a three-time recipient of Creativity Grants from the Culture and Animals Foundation (2023, 2019, and 2014). The most recent grant was awarded to complete “Picturing Pigs” —a billboard advocacy project created in collaboration with Jane M. Casteline. Johnstone is a tenured professor at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC. She is also a PhD candidate in Human-Animal Studies at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
Thomas Machowicz - USA
Thomas Machowicz is an American documentary photographer whose work focuses on social issues and animal conservation.
Wes Burdett - USA
Photographer
In 2017 a little pig boy named Olive came into Wes’s life and opened his eyes to how amazing pigs are. Shortly after, he started volunteering at Ching Sanctuary where he got to know a wide variety of farmed animals. After waking up to the world of animal agriculture he picked up a camera to hopefully show others what he saw; he didn’t know at the time that photographing and documenting animals would become his passion. For the past three years he’s had the incredible opportunity of working at Sage Mountain Animal Sanctuary in Park City Utah where he has fine-tuned his craft by photographing the rescued farmed animal residents who live there. Through his photography he hopes to inspire a change in the way we see and treat our fellow earthlings.
Ziad Elkawlak - USA
Cinematographer
Ziad Elkawlak is a cinematographer in Portland, OR who collaborates regularly with Bridge City Media.
World Wide
Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) - Worldwide
Activist Organization
Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) is a global grassroots network of animal rights activists. Their mission is to achieve social and political change for animals in one generation.