Welcome! My name is Forest, and I am the artivist behind To Be Free Advocacy.
It was only a few years ago that I fell in love with photography (and soon after, videography) and developed a passion for visual storytelling as a uniquely powerful instrument of social change.
Initially self-taught in photography, I went on to pursue and complete a Certificate in Photography as well as a Certificate in Video and Film Production at the University of Washington in 2018. I have worked and volunteered at various sanctuaries for previously-farmed animals across the US. Most recently I worked as the Photo & Video Specialist at a leading farmed animal sanctuary, Farm Sanctuary, as well as a caregiver at a sanctuary for rescued farmed birds. I currently live in occupied Duwamish territory (widely known as Seattle) with my equally resilient and affectionate adopted pit bull companion, Molly Mae.
My intention with my photography is to create intimate portraits that inspire deep reverence & respect for those deemed farmed animals, in hopes of helping to shift the collective consciousness & current speciesist paradigm to a more liberatory, empathetic, nonviolent, and just one.
“The mission of To Be Free Advocacy is to utilize visual storytelling to open hearts and minds to the plight as well as personhood of farmed animals in particular, and the need to include nonhuman people in our understanding and pursuit of collective liberation, healing, and justice.”
The call for collective liberation and healing informs my entire way of being, living, perceiving, and engaging with the world, and I am constantly learning. My understandings of the interconnectedness of human and beyond-human animal oppression as well as liberation have been greatly influenced and deepened by the revolutionary insights and expertise of Sunaura Taylor, Christopher Sebastian, Aph & Syl Ko, Carol J. Adams, lauren ornelis, and pattrice jones, among many, many others. I highly encourage everyone engage with and learn from their powerful works. Below are just a few of my recommendations for educational resources!
http://www.consistentantioppression.com
https://foodispower.org
Books:
Aphro-ism by Aph Ko & Syl Ko
Racism As Zoological Witchcraft: A Guide To Getting Out by Aph Ko
The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J. Adams
Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation by Sunaura Taylor
Queer + Trans Voices: Achieving Liberation Through Consistent Anti-Oppression, edited by J Feliz Brueck &. Z. McNeill
Veganism In An Oppressive World: A Vegans of Color Community Project, edited by Julia Feliz Brueck
Veganism of Color: Decentering Whiteness in Human and Nonhuman Liberation, edited by Julia Feliz Brueck
All of To Be Free Advocacy’s images are available for use in nonhuman rights and liberation advocacy and education by sanctuaries and other groups, organizations, or activists. Please reach out to me via email at tobefreeadvocacy@gmail.com if you would like higher resolution images of larger file sizes than what is available on my website. The stipulations I ask of the interested party are that my images only be used for advocacy and other purposes that:
are strictly anti-speciesist, consistently anti-oppression, and pro-intersectional;
empower and respect nonhuman people through language, context, mission, and means.
Additionally, I hope to sell prints of my sanctuary photography in the near future, so please stay tuned! My intention is to donate a portion of every sale to the respective sanctuary at which the photograph was taken.
“To be free... from exploitation, oppression, discrimination, marginalization, commodification, objectification, violence, harm, and trauma. This is what we, of all species, want. This is what we are fighting for, from the individual to the collective — to be free.”