HIDDEN by Joaquin Phoenix

The book "Hidden: Animals in the Anthropocene"  by Joaquin Phoenix came out in 2021, but I  ordered it only now. It arrived to my door today. It is a large thick book, measuring 10 x 12½ inches and a little over 300 pages.


Showcased by award-winning designer David Griffin, HIDDEN represents the work of over thirty photojournalists who have documented--and continue to document--animal stories. Their exhaustive and in-depth work has resulted in some of the most compelling and historic images of animals ever seen. 

"I am, quite simply, in awe of these photographers. In a way, they are like war photographers, except witness to a war that so many people choose to suppress that exists. This takes enormous inner strength and bloody-minded determination, because they cannot save any of the animals that they photograph; they can only hope that their photos will help illuminate the mass extermination that unfolds every second of every day across the planet. To me, they are heroes. Not just for one day, but over and over and over again."--Nick Brandt, photographer

I am happy to notice that there is at least one Finnish photographer even though his photographs show horrible examples of cruelty here.

I have been a vegetarian - on and off - since I was twenty. Sometimes when I explain it by saying that "I do not eat meat", I get the question, "do you eat chicken? or at least fish?"  My answer is "no, I don't eat any animals, dead or alive (oysters)".  I have to add that I am (almost) vegan today.


Among the titles of the chapters there are:  Industrial farming ... Live transport ... Entertainment ...  Research ... Fashion ...  Catastrophe (forest fires) .