EMPOWERING CHANGE

When National Geographic photographer Ami Vitale set off to document the transport of four of the world’s last known surviving northern white rhinos from a zoo in Czechia to a conservancy in Kenya, the experience altered the trajectory of her life’s work. The hope was that giving the animals room to roam in Kenya’s open plains would stimulate them to breed. But that never happened. In 2018, Sudan, the last male of his species, died. Witnessing his passing devastated Vitale. “Watching a creature die—one who was the last of its kind, is something I hope never to experience again. It felt like watching our own demise,” she recalls.

90 Sr2024 04 192 Img 20170419 170539~2 — Fupi, an orphaned reticulated giraffe, nuzzles Ami Vitale at Sarara Camp in northern Kenya. Fupi was kept inside an enclosure until he was strong enough to heal after being found abandoned and injured. Fupi was eventually returned to the wild where he is now thriving.

Before this, Vitale had been photographing war zones in Kosovo, Gaza, Angola, and Afghanistan, believing that to record history, the horrors of human conflict should not be minimized. “Yet, it became clear to me that journalists also have an obligation to illuminate the things that unite us as human beings,” she says.

Nature, Vitale believes, is one of those key links. “Behind virtually every human conflict,” she says, “you will find an erosion of the bond between humans and the natural world around them.”

90 Sr2024 04 193 Dsc 3928 — Shaba greets keeper Mary Lengees at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in northern Kenya. Reteti is the first ever community-owned and run elephant sanctuary in all of Africa and provides a home to orphaned elephants as a result of drought, climate change, human-wildlife conflict, and, in rare cases, poaching. All of the elephants cared for there will one day be returned to the wild to live the life they were meant to lead. Reteti was also among the first sanctuaries to hire women as elephant keepers. What’s happening at Reteti is nothing less than the beginnings of a transformation, not only in the way humans relate to wild animals but also in how we relate to one another.

The importance of restoring that bond has become Vitale’s primary focus. As one of this generation’s most influential conservation photographers, she is dedicated to slowing the eradication of the Earth’s wildlife and to healing damage to its environment through work and initiatives that spotlight the problems and empower others to act.

Those in the Chicago area will have the privilege to meet and hear Vitale in person on Tuesday, May 14th when she keynotes the Field Museum’s annual Women in Science Luncheon. Hosted by the Museum’s Women’s Board and co-chaired by Winnetka’s Leslie Gantz McLamore and Lake Forest’s Elizabeth Butler Pruett, the event celebrates female leadership in STEM fields. Proceeds from the event will support women at all stages in their scientific careers, through internships, fellowships, postdoc positions, and more.

90 Sr2024 04 194 Mm8391 151030 33510 — Ye Ye, a 16-year-old giant panda, lounges in a wild enclosure at a conservation center in Wolong Nature Reserve. Her name, whose characters represent Japan and China, celebrates the friendship between the two nations. After years of research, China is on its way to successfully saving its most famous ambassador. And they are now working to reintroduce them into the wild.

“Ami’s photographs are so powerful, there is a reason she was named one of the most influential conservation photographers of her generation,” says McLamore. “Her work has shown that communities banding together can make an incredible impact in saving lives of many endangered species, giving animals a voice through humans.”

With compelling images and films, Vitale illustrates the efforts of scientists and conservationists to save species close to extinction. There are many examples. When China introduced captive-born giant pandas to the wild to save its most famous “ambassadors,” Vitale was there. Dressed in a panda suit, she unobtrusively recorded the process, making multiple trips to China over three years. Since 2016, she has worked closely with Kenya’s Reteti Elephant Sanctuary photographing the heartwarming stories of young Samburu women and warriors who once feared elephants but now have become their guardians. More recently, she has been documenting the work of an international team of scientists and conservationists who just succeeded in creating an in vitro embryo transplant in a southern white rhino. And in February, she was in Kenya photographing eastern black rhinos, which have resurged from the brink of extinction.

90 Sr2024 04 195 Dsc 1528 — Orphaned elephants play in the mud hole at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary. In the middle of it all, is the enchanting Mpala who was lovingly cared for at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary. She was the rambunctious one. She arrived at Reteti when she was 7 months old, a victim of the drought and integrated into the herd quickly. Her place was in the middle of it all. If there was a ruckus to be had, she was throwing back her trunk and rumbling in the muck, enjoying a refreshing mud bath. She was carefully reintroduced into the wild alongside proxy matriarch Shaba in 2019 and is thriving.

“These are not just stories to me,” says Vitale. “We are witnessing extinction right now, on our watch. Without rhinos and elephants and other wildlife, we suffer a loss of imagination, a loss of wonder, a loss of beautiful possibilities. When we see ourselves as part of nature, we understand that saving nature is really about saving ourselves.”

Vitale’s powerful images have been commissioned by dozens of international publications, exhibited around the world in museums and galleries, garnered Vitale top press awards, and landed her roles as an ambassador for Nikon, Canson Infinity, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, and Luminar Neo.

90 Sr2024 04 196 Dsc 5065 — Lekupania receives a nuzzle from an orphaned giraffe at Sarara Foundation in Kenya. Fupi has since been rehabilitated and returned to the wild. Today, giraffes are undergoing a silent extinction. Giraffe populations have dropped nearly 40 percent in three decades. Reticulated giraffes number fewer than 16,000. The decline is thought to be caused by habitat loss and fragmentation and poaching, but with the lack of long-term conservation efforts in the past, it’s hard to know exactly.

To spread the message further, Vitale founded Vital Impacts, a nonprofit that uses art to support grassroots conservation and empower youth. She is also a founding member of Ripple Effect Images, a consortium of leading female scientists, writers, photographers, and filmmakers who collaborate on stories that shed light on hardships faced by women in developing countries and on the programs that offer them help.

90 Sr2024 04 197 Ken1149 — Head rhino keeper Zacharia Mutai relaxes with Najin, one of the last two northern white rhinos on the planet. Zacharia, with Najin’s other keepers, has had a front row seat as the Biorescue team works to restore this iconic species. These keepers spend more time protecting the northern white rhinos than they do with their own children.

And, because engaging the world with stories of the animals, humans, and environments that so need our help requires telling as well as showing, Vitale dedicates time to speaking.

“Ami’s images connect us on an emotional level telling stories that leave us wanting to know more,” observes Pruett. “Her vast experience as an explorer, filmmaker, photographer, and writer, showcasing the natural, animal, and human worlds, intersects perfectly with the interests and mission of the Field Museum.”

90 Sr2024 04 198 Dsc 9546 — This image of Kilifi and his caretaker Kamara is a testament to the hopeful shift Kenya has made as a nation that is expanding habitat and bolstering rhino populations. Kenya’s black rhino population had plummeted to near extinction but their numbers are rising.

In narratives that blend humor and heartbreak, where hope, collective action, and the art of stewardship intertwine, Vitale’s talk will not only be about saving creatures from extinction, “but also about the transformative power of reimagining our approach to challenges in the face of adversity,” says Vitale. “It is precisely during these critical moments that we can reshape and reinvent our methods for the better.”

90 Sr2024 04 199 Img 20180205 091046 — Portrait of Vitale nuzzling a mule in Montana Photography by Katy Garton

“Through Ami’s presentation, I hope people realize that we have a footprint in this world,” McLamore concludes. “We can make a greater impact uniting together.”

For more information about the Field Museum Women in Science Luncheon, visit fieldmuseum.org.