“There is no characteristic, or reasonably small set of characteristics, that sets some creatures apart from others as meriting respectful treatment...If an individual possess a particular characteristic, such as the ability to feel pain, then we may have a duty to treat it in a certain way (not to torture it)”
- James Rachels, American philosopher who specialized in animal ethics
“No outside air, no dirt, no sunlight, no capacity for natural movement or activities such as grooming, play, exercise, unaided reproduction, or the like. Ironically, the same social behaviors that allowed livestock to be domesticated in the first place are eliminated.”
-Margo DeMello, Program Director for human-animal studies at the Animals & Society institute
The subject I removed from all of these images is simple - humans. It is humans that do this, humans that ignore what’s happening, humans that make these animals suffer, humans who know in the back of their head what is happening but choose to look the other way.
I chose this difficult topic and these difficult images for this exercise because it’s so, so important. Not just to me, but for the world. Factory farming is a serious issue that is overlooked every single day, and in addition to being cruel and unethical, it’s a means of livestock production that has EXTREMELY negative impacts on both consumer health and the environment.
Ignorance is bliss - but it’s time to pay attention and fight for change.
