Multitude of Narratives

Ami Vitale travels the globe capturing images of nature and humanity for National Geographic.

Kayla Unrein Ami Vitale

In 2009, on a cold December day, snow fell in the village outside of the capital city of Czech Republic, Prague. National Geographic photographer Ami Vitale traveled across the world to visit the Dvür Králové Zoo in hopes of meeting Sudan, one of the last two living male northern white rhinos left on the planet. Vitale had heard about a plan to airlift Sudan, along with the three remaining northern white rhinos, to Africa in what looked like a “storyline for a Disney film, but in reality” was a last chance effort to save the species. Vitale followed the “gentle, hulking creatures” to Kenya. Less than ten years later, Sudan sadly passed away at the age of 45. When Vitale met Sudan, there were a total of seven northern white rhinos left, all of them held in captivity. Now there are only two, Najin and Fatu, a mother and daughter, both held at Ol Pejeta Conservatory in Kenya.

Vitale along with the company Media Storm recently released a short film, Remembering Sudan, documenting the heartbreaking crisis of the northern white rhino and the keepers who helped protect what is left of these creatures after years of illegal hunting for the animals’ horns. Vitale started this story with Sudan 14 years ago, realizing that when we lose species’ like the northern white rhino, we’re not only losing them, but we are slowly losing ourselves. It was at this moment that Vitale “truly understood how connected we all are to one another and to all of life on this planet.”

“Our fate is linked to the fate of animals,” says Vitale. “Without rhinos and elephants and other wildlife we suffer more than loss of ecosystem health. We suffer a loss of imagination, a loss of wonder, a loss of beautiful possibilities.” slow down and truly capture peoples’ stories.

Vitale has learned to master this and often chooses to stay in the same communities for more than a decade to work on stories, making strong bonds and connections with her subjects.

“By taking time, I am able to hear and share a multitude of narratives,” says Vitale. “There is a universal truth and if you get beyond the headlines, if you peek under the veil, and truly take time to understand each other’s stories, you are transformed.”

As a young woman, Vitale dreamt of becoming a photographer, but sometimes her introverted personality made it difficult to find a place in the photography world. Yet, everytime she picked up a camera it felt like magic, the little black box giving her the courage she never had, creating a passport that allowed her to engage with the world around her like she never had before. The traditionally male-dominated environment of photography wasn’t always inviting, and Vitale felt pigeonholed and stuck for years, but she refused to give up on her dream. And her perceived setbacks soon turned into strengths. For instance, her quiet nature made it that much easier to listen and truly understand others’ stories.

“Even though my dreams were dismissed, I knew I had to try,” says Vitale. “Even if I failed, this was part of my journey and I would never regret trying.”

She began her career in the late 1990’s, covering “war and horrors of the world.” When first starting journalism, she was told to “parachute in” and bring in the big story, then leave, but she realized by doing this she was missing the true stories. She decided to

She not only uses photography to not only make human connections, but connections with animals as well, evident in one of her more challenging stories, the panda project. Vitale traveled to China on multiple occasions, doing immense research to learn all she could about the Giant Panda. There are fewer than 2,000 Giant Pandas left in the wild due to their mysterious breeding secrets and the bamboo forest they call home slowly deteriorating. Places like the Wolong Nature Reserve in China have been working on ways to breed and release pandas back into the wild, and after numerous years of conducting research they are finally finding some success, releasing pandas that were once captive back into the wild.

“Today, my work is not just about people,” says Vitale, “...it’s about how the destiny of both people and wildlife are intertwined and how small and deeply interconnected our world is.”

Vitale has made many connections, forming deep relationships, with communities around the world. There are many tragic stories like Sudan’s, but people like Vitale have an important role, sharing stories that help instigate change.