Activist Couple Quit Jobs to Photograph Plight of Animals Around the World

Activists and documentary photographers Amy Jones and Paul Healey recently launched a free-to-use website archive of photographs and footage they captured of animal exploitation around the world. Called Moving Animals, the resource currently contains more than 500 images that were taken over the last 10 months across Sri Lanka, India, and the United Kingdom. The photographers have documented animal exploitation in locations such as fish markets, performing monkey shows, camel-riding festivals, intensive egg farms, pet shops, slaughterhouses, crocodile farms, and zoos. “One of the most intense shoots were the three days spent filming and photographing the 103 elephants at Amber Fort, India, where these elephants, many of whom are blind or lame, are forced to carry tourists up and down the steep fort every day,” Jones told VegNews. “Documenting farmed animals is always a challenge: whether it’s a livestock auction in the UK, or an industrial dairy farm in Sri Lanka, it’s always heartbreaking when we have to leave these animals behind.” The couple met while working for the United Kingdom branch of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), where they saw first-hand the impact that photos and footage have on raising animal-rights awareness. They quit their jobs to pursue the project, and started documenting animal exploitation around the world after receiving support from nonprofit Culture and Animals Foundation. “Part of what drove us to start Moving Animals was the belief that powerful visuals and effective storytelling have the power to change mindsets, and so every view of our work holds the promise to make the world a kinder world for animals, one person at a time,” Jones said. “We hope that every view our content receives allows others to look through a different lens—one which views animals as individuals, not ‘commodities’ or ‘property.’” Jones and Healey—who urge activists and organizations to use their images and footage to progress the animal-rights movement—plan to grow the resource with more images as they continue to travel, next to South-East Asia.