Jo-Anne McArthur (she/her)

I did not know what I wanted to do when I was in school, and I didn’t get fantastic grades by any stretch. Classroom learning was a challenge. In my last year of high school, I realized that I wanted to try university. As a result, I really applied myself and to my surprise, got an A average, and my applications to universities were successful.

I started off studying geography mostly because I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. I took an elective course on black and white print making. This opened my eyes to artistic expression and its role in communication. I realized quite instantly this was what I wanted to do as a career.

I didn’t study photography formally. I immersed myself and learned what I could by myself. I went around to a number of agencies and offered to volunteer. I went to the Canadian Geographic office and volunteered to do anything; filing, making coffee, anything! I guess my attitude got me in the door. I worked as a photographer’s assistant. Later I was encouraged to start taking my own photographs. I continued to learn and worked with great mentors who helped me along the way. I devoured any information I could about photographers and photojournalism.

I started working for myself. I built a business taking photos of food, doing portrait photography, and weddings. I found I was good at being an entrepreneur. I was successful and I enjoyed the work. But I was really interested in social change. So I started taking photos of animals. Not companion animals or wildlife. The “hidden animals”. Those we eat, wear or use in research. We don’t often see them as living things because we see them on our plates or as clothing. Their stories are also important and need to be told. Animal stories also intersect with environment stories, health, and human rights stories. There’s a lot to cover as an animal photojournalist!