Author: Ami Vitale

Nikon Ambassador and National Geographic magazine photographer Ami Vitale has traveled to more than 90 countries, bearing witness not only to violence and conflict, but also to surreal beauty and the enduring power of the human spirit. Throughout the years, Ami has lived in mud huts and war zones, contracted malaria, and donned a panda suit— keeping true to her belief in the importance of “living the story.” In 2009, after shooting a powerful story on the transport and release of one the world’s last white rhinos, Ami shifted her focus to today’s most compelling wildlife and environmental stories. Her photographs have been commissioned by nearly every international publication and exhibited around the world in museums and galleries. Recently, she joined Ripple Effect Images, an organization of renowned female scientists, writers, photographers and filmmakers working together to create powerful and persuasive stories that shed light on the hardships women in developing countries face and the programs that can help them. She is also on the Photojournalism Advisory Council for the Alexia Foundation. Currently based in Montana, Ami Vitale is a contract photographer with National Geographic magazine and frequently gives workshops throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. She can be reached at ami@amivitale.com.

Visual Storytelling through Digital Photography Workshop at Anderson Ranch

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Challenge the way you view the world around you by examining your community and your life through the art of visual storytelling. In this workshop, held Aug. 27-Aug. 31, 2018 we examine the art of cohesive storytelling and narrative, and work together to create a storyline and rich understanding of place and culture. With this overarching goal in mind, the class discussions include the technical aspects of strong photography, editing images to create powerful narratives, and how to plan, research and find unique perspectives to telling stories.

This workshop takes place at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado.

Ami Vitale will be teaching this class. Ami Vitale’s journey as a photographer, writer and filmmaker has taken her to over 90 countries. She is an ambassador for Nikon, a contract photographer with National Geographic magazine, and has garnered prestigious awards including multiple prizes from World Press Photos, the International Photographer of the Year prize, the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting, and was named Magazine Photographer of the Year by the National Press Photographer’s Association, among others.

Learn more and register here.

Smithsonian Feature

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Smithsonian Magazine published a feature, “Why Photographing Pandas is More Challenging Than You Might Think,” coinciding with the release of Ami Vitale’s latest book, Panda Love: The Secret Lives of Pandas.

Through its 159 pages, the book takes viewers on an exclusive look behind the scenes of China’s panda breeding centers and captive release program, chronicling the lovable bears’ journey—from blind, hairless newborns no bigger than a stick of butter to full-furred adults who tip the scales at more than 300 pounds.

Native to the forested mountains of central China, panda populations suffered in the late 20th century from poaching, deforestation and encroaching human development. However, with the backing of the Chinese government, the creatures are slowly multiplying in the rugged terrain. And now, as Vitale details in Panda Love, scientists are working to not only breed baby pandas, but release them back into the wild.

Read more about Ami’s process photographing pandas here.

WBFO Buffalo: Photojournalist Views a Planet Under Duress

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Ami Vitale spoke with Buffalo, NY’s local NPR station, WBFO, prior to her lecture, “Rhinos, Rickshaws, and Revolutions” in a piece entitled Photojournalist Views a Planet Under Duress.

Ami offers some background on her career and the stories she shares in her lectures, particularly focusing on Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhino. Ami had first met Sudan at a zoo in the Czech Republic, years before she captured the heartbreaking image of his final moments alive. It was this story that marked her shift from photographing conflict to focusing on stories about animal and environmental conservation.

Listen to the full radio piece here.

“My Africa” at the Tribeca Film Festival

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Ami Vitale is thrilled to announce the release of her latest film, My Africa, which is a blue chip VR film on the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, featuring voiceover by Oscar-winning actress Lupita N’yongo. Ami directed the film with Emmy Award-winning Passion Pictures, Vision 3, and Deep VR for Conservation International.

My Africa premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival as part of the 2018 Tribeca Immersive program to a fantastic reception, where it ran at the Tribeca Festival Hub in NYC from April 20-28.

The film made the Forbes Awesome list and the ABC News Best VR Round-Up from the festival.

My Africa made its online debut on April 30. Since then, it has been written up by Mashable, Earther, and others.

You can watch and share it here.

BigPicture Competition

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Ami Vitale served as one of the judges for the 2018 BigPicture Competition. BigPicture encourages photographers from around the world to contribute their work to this competition that both celebrates and illustrates the rich diversity of life on Earth and inspire action to protect and conserve it through the power of imagery.

Chaired by award-winning conservation photographer Suzi Eszterhas, this competition welcomes high-quality nature, wildlife and conservation images and is open to all photographers around the world.

To view the full winner’s gallery, click here. The winning images will be exhibited at the California Academy of Sciences.

2018 World Press Photo: First Place, Nature Stories

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I’m humbled and honored to named the first place winner in the 2018 World Press Photo awards for my National Geographic story “Warriors Who Once Feared Elephants Now Protect Them.” Thank you to all my friends at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary Community United for Elephants for trusting me to share your powerful story, to my editors Alexa Keefe and Sarah Leen for giving us the platform to share it and now to World Press Photo, for further casting the light on this important story of community and conservation.

I was awarded a World Press Photo, Second Place, Nature, stories, in 2017 for “Pandas Gone Wild.” In 2015, I received a Second Place, Singles, award in the World Press Photo Nature category for “Orphaned Rhino,” which is also from my body of work on Northern Kenya, like this year’s prize. This work is a long term examination of the change in the relationship between people and animals in the region.

In the photo above, keepers feed baby elephants at the Retiti Elephant Sanctuary in northern Kenya, the first sanctuary in Africa to hire indigenous women as keepers.

Please have a look all of the World Press Photo stories. Some will break your heart, others may make you laugh and hopefully inspire all of us to work harder to find solutions to our planet’s most pressing challenges.

You can also see my lecture at the World Press Photo Festival, where I shared the full arc of my photographic journey, including this story on the Retiti Elephant Sanctuary.

Dave Matthews Band Ecovillage

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Ami Vitale’s photographs of the Retiti Elephant Sanctuary and the heartbreaking image of Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhino’s final moments are featured on 6 foot high cubes in the Dave Matthews Band Ecovillage. They will be on display there at the entrance to all 47 shows this summer, drawing attention to the importance of wildlife conservation.

Jackson Hole Science Media Awards: “My Africa”

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My Africa, a blue-chip VR film Ami Vitale directed on the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary for Conservation International won top prize for VR/360 Storytelling in the Jackson Hole Science Media Awards.

From the infinitesimal to the infinite, science plays a profound role in virtually every aspect of our daily lives. There has never been a more dynamic time in scientific discovery and innovation and the need for communicating science to public audiences and policy-makers has never been more important!

Recognizing excellence and innovation in 22 Content, Program and Craft categories, the Jackson Hole Science Media Awards celebrate the world’s most effective science storytellers and stories. Award-winners will be showcased at special screening events hosted with partner organizations around the world.

See the full list of 2018 winners here.

BBC: A Life Devoted to Photography

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The BBC published a feature on Ami Vitale’s life and work, “Ami Vitale: A Life Devoted to Photography.” It offers a behind the scenes look at other elements that go into having a successful career in photojournalism, including the need for photographers to often fund their own work in order to do justice to a long term story that extends beyond editorial budgets. The story also focuses on the connection between Ami’s environmental work and her earlier stories about people.

Ami explains: “As a photographer, the more I’m asked to document people and their issues, I realize I’m documenting nature, and the more I get asked to document nature, I realize I’m photographing people’s lives. It’s one and the same. In a world of seven billion people, we must see ourselves as part of the landscape. Our fate is linked to the fate of animals.”

Read the full feature here.