Ami Vitale is an American

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

maker, educator and speaker. In 2018, she published a photo book titled ''Panda Love'' which captures pandas within captivity and being released into the wild.

Early life and education

Vitale was born in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. She realized the potential of photography at a young age. She has a degree in International Studies from the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

Photography and filmmaking

In 1994, Vitale joined the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

(AP) as a picture editor in New York and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

She self funded her travel through her work with AP and left for the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

in 1997. She moved to

Prague, Czech Republic Prague ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan area is home to approximately 2.3 m ...

, and spent a year covering the war in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

, traveling back and forth to Prague, and spending a month at a time in the war zone. She later traveled to

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

, and then to the second Intifada in

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. In 2000, she received an Alexia Foundation grant to document a small village in the West African nation of

Guinea Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to its north and Guinea to its southeast. Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kin ...

. Vitale currently photographs wildlife and environmental stories in order to educate about global conservation issues. She is a visual journalist working as a photographer for ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'', a

maker, and a

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

. Her recent still photography focuses on wildlife conservation in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. As an ambassador for

Nikon (, ; ) is a Japanese optics and photographic equipment manufacturer. Nikon's products include cameras, camera lenses, binoculars, microscopes, ophthalmic lenses, measurement instruments, rifle scopes, spotting scopes, and equipment related to S ...

and a contract photographer with ''National Geographic'' magazine, she has documented wildlife and poaching in Africa, covered human-wildlife conflict, and concentrated on efforts to save the

northern white rhino The northern white rhinoceros or northern white rhino (''Ceratotherium simum cottoni'') is one of two subspecies of the white rhinoceros (the other being the southern white rhinoceros). This subspecies is a grazer in grasslands and savanna wood ...

and reintroduce pandas to the wild. Vitale is a founding member of Ripple Effect Images, as well as a member of the Photojournalism Advisory Council for the Alexia Foundation.

Writing

Vitale is an author, contributor and frequently writes corresponding articles with her photojournalistic works.

Publications

Books by Vitale

*''Panda Love: the Secret Lives of Pandas'' (2018) – author, photographer

Books with contributions of photography by Vitale

*''Associated Press: Guide to Photojournalism'' (2000) by Brian Horton *''National Geographic: The Most Popular Instagram Photos'' (2016) *Seeing it All: Women Photographers Expose our Planet. 2024

Films

* ''

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrenc ...

'' (2010) – camera development * PBS ''Frontline World'' (2007) – reporter * ''Bangladesh: A Climate Trap'' (2019) – director, co-writer * ''Shaba'' (2021) – director

Awards

*2003: General News, third prize stories,

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization holds the annual World Press Photo Contest for press photography. Since 2011, World Press Photo has orga ...

, Amsterdam *2005: People in the News, second prize stories, World Press Photo, Amsterdam *2015: Nature, second prize singles, World Press Photo, Amsterdam *2017: Nature, second prize stories, World Press Photo, Amsterdam *2017: Science & Natural History Picture Story, third place,

Pictures of the Year International Pictures of the Year International (POYi) is a professional development program for visual journalism, visual journalists run on a non-profit basis by the Missouri School of Journalism's Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. POYi began as an a ...

*2018: Nature, first prize stories, World Press Photo, Amsterdam *2020: Wildlife Photographer of the Year, nomination *2020: National Geographic Photo of the Decade * 2024: Honorary Fellowship, The Royal Photographic Society

References

External links

*
Digital Journalist
''Ami Vitale: Getting Beyond the Headlines'' by Susan Markisz, January 2003 1971 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American photojournalists American women photographers Madeira School alumni National Geographic people University of Miami alumni University of North Carolina alumni American war photographers Photographers from Montana American women photojournalists {{US-journalist-1970s-stub