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. Ye Ye’s cub Hua Yan (Pretty Girl) is being trained for release into the wild. Photo by Ami Vitale ’94.
Two Carolina alumnae turned their passion for photography into a nonprofit to raise money for global conservation causes.
Ami Vitale ’94 (top) and Eileen Mignoni ’09 (MA)
Photographers Ami Vitale ’94 and Eileen Mignoni ’09 (MA) have spent years documenting environmental issues and exploring the intersections of nature, culture, social justice and science all over the globe. Both have earned some of the most prominent press awards in the business. But they wanted to do more than report on the world’s problems; they wanted to do something about them.
Vitale, a writer, filmmaker, and photographer for National Geographic magazine, and Mignoni, who has worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, The Associated Press and other organizations, created Vital Impacts, a nonprofit that sells photographic prints to raise money for organizations that protect and preserve wildlife and the environment. Through fundraising campaigns and print sales, they have raised millions of dollars for organizations and communities doing grassroots conservation work.
Sixty percent of the proceeds from Vital Impacts’ sales go to conservation groups; forty percent goes directly to the photographer from each print sold.
“There’s a strong connection between visual imagery and empathy,” Vitale said. “When we see something, it helps us to connect our brains and hearts to feel love and compassion for other living beings. As photographers we have a huge opportunity to inform and influence change, but pressing the shutter is just the start.”
The following photographs were taken by Vitale and other photographers worldwide. You can buy a print or contribute at vitalimpacts.org.
“Rajan Morning Walk,” by Jody MacDonald. Rajan was one of 10 Indian elephants brought to the Andaman Islands for logging in the 1950s. The elephants were forced to swim in the ocean to bring logged trees to barges. After logging was banned on the islands, Rajan lived among the giant trees he used to haul. He was the last survivor of the group and died in 2016.
@jodymacdonaldphoto
“Kamara and Kilifi,” by Ami Vitale ’94. Kilifi, a black rhino, was 18 months old at the time of this photo. About 400 black rhinos were left in Kenya in 1987. Today, there are almost 900, largely because of the efforts of the Kenyan government and people like Kamara.
@amivitale
“Flamingo Bob,” by Jasper Doest. Severely concussed after flying into a window, Bob was taken in by a wildlife rehabilitation center in Curaçao. “We were asked for his name on live radio and didn’t have much time to think,” Doest said. “[Bob] was just something that came up, and it just sounded right.” @jasperdoest
“Ornithography #139,” common starlings, Catalonia, by Barcelona-based artist Xavi Bou: “This project focuses on birds, in order to capture in a single time frame the shapes they generate when flying, making visible the invisible.”
@xavibou
A Mexican violetear hummingbird (Colibri thalassinus) in flight. Photographed by Anand Varma in San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica.
@anandavarma
“A Mother Giraffe Embraces Her Calf,” taken outside a small village in Niger, by Ami Vitale ’94. In the mid-1990s only 49 giraffes remained in West Africa. A government-defined region of Niger where giraffes and humans coexist, coupled with a relocation program, have helped the West African giraffe population rebound to more than 600.
@amivitale
“Odin’s Cove #25,” by Beth Moon: “This project evolved from a series of trips to a very special part of the California coastline where I developed what I can only call a friendship with a pair of ravens. Over a three-year period I made many trips to this unique area, and as my relationship with the ravens grew, they taught me many things about their lives and personalities.” @bethmoonphotography
Self portrait, by Jane Goodall. Gombe National Park, Tanzania, 1962
Shaba the elephant at Retiti, the world’s first Indigenous-owned orphaned elephant rehabilitation sanctuary, by Ami Vitale ’94. Shaba was rescued in 2016 after poachers killed her mother. She was released into the wild in 2019. @amivitale
“Octopus Vulgaris,” by David Liittschwager. The common octopus lives in oceans and seas over most of the planet. It will eat nearly anything it can catch, and it’s able to change color to blend in with its surroundings, as seen in this captive specimen. @davidliittschwager
“Richard and Sky, Zimbabwe, 2020,” by Nick Brandt.
Richard struggled to provide for his family after his cows died during droughts. Sky came from a farm where nearly all the wildlife was killed by settlers. @nickbrandtphotography
“Rajan the Swimming Elephant,” by Jody MacDonald. @jodymacdonaldphoto
“Feathers of an Anna’s Hummingbird,” by Anand Varma. Each magenta feather is about a tenth of an inch wide and contains microstructures that reflect light to attract mates. @anandavarma
Yeye in the Mist, by Ami Vitale '94
@amivitale
“Kiss,” by Jane Goodall. All proceeds from the sale of Goodall’s prints go toward supporting the Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots and Shoots program. @janegoodallinst
“Harriet and People in Fog, Zimbabwe, 2020,” by Nick Brandt.
This giant eagle owl was rescued when she was a chick and has lived at Kuimba Shiri Bird Sanctuary for 35 years. @nickbrandtphotography
