Tag: homenews

InStyle Magazine Badass Women List

Posted on by Eileen Mignoni

I have been named as one of fifty in InStyle Magazine’s Badass Women, a series celebrating women who show up, speak up and get things done. I believe all of us are “badasses” in our own way, but it is still an unbelievable honor to have been included, alongside so many inspiring women, including Jane Goodall, Christiane Amanpour, Stephanie Sinclair and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. See the full list here.

Further, for the InStyle August issue honoring spectacular women, I had the chance to interview one of my favorite Badass Women, Sasha Dorothy Lowuekuduk, Reteti Elephant Sanctuary’s first female head keeper and one of the first indigenous Samburu women keepers in all of Africa. I’m so proud of everyone at Reteti where all the women and men are working to not only protect elephants, but are also breaking stereotypes and pushing the boundaries. Read my full Q&A with Dorothy at InStyle.com.

WeTransfer​’s Union of Concerned Photographers

Posted on by Eileen Mignoni

“It’s one thing to know the planet is in crisis. It’s another to see what that looks like.”

I am proud to be a member of WeTransfer​’s Union of Concerned Photographers along with Lucy Pike,​ Mandy Barker,​ Frans Lanting​, Luca Locatelli,​ & Joel Redman​. We are a group of photographers dedicated to using the power of imagery to underline the urgency of environmental concerns. Learn more and get involved at we.tl/UCP

You can read my story on WeTransfer’s Union of Concerned Photographers website here.

Visual Storytelling through Digital Photography Workshop at Anderson Ranch

Posted on by Ami Vitale

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.

2018 World Press Photo Nature Stories Nomination

Posted on by Eileen Mignoni

I’m humbled and honored to be among the nominees for 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, Joseph Lolngojine, a Samburu warrior turned elephant caretaker, watches over Kinya. Moments after this photo was taken, it was decided to bring her to the sanctuary to try to save her life.

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. This year, World Press Photos will announce the winners at the Awards Show in Amsterdam on April 12, 2018.

Shortlisted for the main prize are five photographers, Patrick Brown, Adam Ferguson, Toby Melville, Ronaldo Schemidt and Ivor Prickett with Prickett nominated for two separate images shot in Mosul. World Press Photo launched a new code of ethics for entrants, which means that images submitted to the prize have been thoroughly checked before the shortlists have been announced.

Warriors Who Once Feared Elephants Now Protect Them

Posted on by Ami Vitale

I am very excited to share an important and hopeful story in Northern Kenya. At the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, the local Samburu community is helping to save what is left of Kenya’s wildlife. What’s happening here at Reteti, without fanfare, is nothing less than the beginnings of a transformation in the way Samburus relate to wild animals they have long feared. This oasis where orphaned elephants grow up, learning to be wild so that one day they can rejoin their herds, is as much about the people as it is about elephants. Read more about Reteti in my National Geographic story and please consider donating to Reteti.

How to Save the World’s Tallest Animal

Posted on by Ami Vitale

The giraffe population has plummeted more than 40 percent over the past 30 years. To make matters worse, scientists know relatively little about giraffe behavior. But a group of scientists and wildlife experts is working to untangle the mystery behind these animals’ rapid decline. In early June, I followed a group from the San Diego Zoo Global and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to collar and tag 11 giraffe in the Loisaba and Leparua Conservancies in Northern Kenya. Learn more about efforts to discover patterns in giraffe behavior from my World Giraffe Day National Geographic post.

National Geographic Live 2018

Posted on by Ami Vitale

I am excited to continue touring as one of the featured National Geographic photographers at the National Geographic Live series in Portland, Victoria B.C., Omaha, Ontario, Buffalo, San Jose, and Los Angeles. My talk, titled “Rhinos, Rickshaws & Revolutions,” is about my exploration of the world from temples to war zones and rhinos to pandas. Tickets and information are available online. In the mornings, I will speak to local schools, and later in the evenings t0 adult audiences. See you out there!

Recognition for Pandas Gone Wild

Posted on by Ami Vitale

Ami’s panda images for National Geographic earned third prize for science and natural history picture story in Pictures of the Year International,  second prize for stories in the Nature category in this year’s World Press Photo Contest, and are shortlisted for the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards. 

The contests were covered by dozens of media including the BBC, The Atlantic, Yahoo News, Smithsonian Magazine, National Geographic Australia, The Express Tribune, the Daily Mail, and DigifotoPro, where she also gave interviews.

Tracker Dogs Are an Elephant’s Best Friend

Posted on by Ami Vitale

Thinking about end of year contributions? One powerful way to make a difference is to support the work  of  The Nature Conservancy in Africa. Last summer, I visited the 56,000 acres of Loisaba Wildlife Conservancy in northern Kenya and learned about the variety of ways TNC is working with local communities to protect elephants and their vital ecosystems.

Bloodhounds like Warrior and Machine, 200 plus pounds of slobbery goodness, are the unlikely best friends of elephants.  More than 25,000 elephants are killed each year for their ivory, and the tracker dogs are an important part of anti-poaching security forces working to protect these gentle giants.

In addition to being an integral part of this landscape, elephants keep forests and grasslands healthy for other species, including humans. They are a cornerstone of the tourism industry, which provides jobs and income for thousands of Kenyans.  See my photos and writing in National Geographic’s A Voice for Elephants.

 

New Book: Co-Exist

Posted on by Ami Vitale

I am excited to announce my first ever edition of a special book this week with some of my most favorite images! Hurry because there are only 150 copies of Co-Exist, curated by the amazing Sara Terry. All the profits will go to Conservation International to support the work they are doing in Northern Kenya. This is a small, micro-press book and there will only be 100 books for sale at $25 per book. An additional 50 books will be available for $50 and will include a signed 4×6 print of my panda work. Please add $5 shipping U.S., $10 shipping outside the U.S.

You can purchase the book via PayPal (be sure to include a note about which book you are purchasing and your address) or contact Sara directly to pay by check.