April is Global Volunteer Month, and at Portland'5 we have a lot fantastic people who give their time to help ensure everyone that comes through the doors of our venues has a...
National Geographic Live - Rhinos, Rickshaws, and Revolutions
Ami Vitale, Photojournalist
Experience our world through the eyes of an award-winning photographer whose career has brought her face-to-face, not just with violence and conflict, but also with surreal beauty and the enduring power of the human spirit. Ami Vitale’s work has taken her to more than 90 countries. She’s lived in mud huts and war zones, contracted malaria, and donned a panda suit—all in keeping with her philosophy of “living the story.”
Early in her career, her focus was on conflict, such as the war in Kosovo, and the border dispute between India and Pakistan. Her first National Geographic story documented the last rickshaws in Kolkata, India. More recently, she has turned her lens to wildlife stories, including efforts to reintroduce white rhinos and pandas to the wild. Her coverage of Kenya’s northern white rhinos, and the indigenous communities working to protect them, earned her World Press Photo recognition in 2015.
Vitale’s career has taught her that stories about nature and wildlife are also stories about people—and that, at the same time, “you can’t talk about humanity without talking about nature.” She’ll share her personal odyssey, told through the images and adventures that have transformed her into a celebrated global photojournalist.
“I realized that if I wanted to cover anything, I should spend time to understand it. And to do that, you have to go live the story.” —Ami Vitale
ABOUT AMI VITALE
Nikon Ambassador and National Geographic magazine photographer Ami Vitale has lived in mud huts and war zones, contracted malaria, and donned a panda suit—all in keeping with her philosophy of “living the story.” She has traveled to more than 90 countries, bearing witness not only to violence and conflict, but also to surreal beauty and to the enduring power of the human spirit. Recently, she has turned her lens to compelling wildlife stories, such as returning critically endangered captive born species, like the giant pandas back to the wild and attempts to save the last living northern white rhinos from extinction.
Ami’s work is exhibited worldwide in museums, galleries, and private collections. She has garnered prestigious awards including multiple prizes from World Press Photo, the International Photographer of the Year prize, the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting and she has been named Magazine Photographer of the Year by the National Press Photographer's Association.
Ami was the subject of a Nat Geo Channel TV series, Mission Covershot, and another documentary series, Over the Islands of Africa, featuring her work in Madagascar. She is a founding member of RippleEffect Images, a collective of scientists, writers, photographers and filmmakers who document challenges facing women and girls in developing countries and donate that media to the organizations to assist in fundraising. She is also a member of the Executive Advisory Committee of the Alexia Foundation's Photojournalism Advisory Board.
Based in Montana, Vitale is a contract photographer with National Geographic magazine and frequently gives workshops throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
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