Ami Vitale, an independent photographer in every sense, is most at home with her family - whether this means her actual relatives or her long-term photographic subjects, who become like family over the course of their work together. An affable storyteller who approaches her work with true compassion, Vitale's images depict hope to encourage change. The result: thought-provoking and eye-widening moments that have earned her praise and, more importantly, have challenged people to recognize problems and take action.

Vitale has received numerous awards for photographs of events across the world, and her work has appeared in major publications that include Geo, National Geographic, Newsweek and Time, among many others.

Following your heart
From the beginning, Vitale's work has reflected a very personal point of view. The paths she has taken in life have been guided by her heart and unique experiences, especially those that led her to become a photographer. An International Studies major at the University of North Carolina, Vitale was inspired to learn more about a friend's culture and subsequently studied abroad in Denmark. Following her graduation, she landed a job as a photo editor for The Associated Press, stationed first in Washington, DC and then in New York City. As she spent her days editing photos, she found herself wanting to understand more about the environment behind the images that flashed across her screen. She decided that she must go and learn firsthand.

"It wasn't as if I woke up one day and wanted a new life. The desire was very gradual and eventually reached a tipping point. I never dreamt it would be possible to make a living by doing what I love: embracing new cultures, learning, and taking pictures," recalled Vitale. "It took one trip visiting my sister in Africa and I knew I had to make it possible."

In 1995, Vitale's sister Abigail was serving part of her two-and-a-half year stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in the small western African country of Guinea-Bissau. Abigail was located in Dembel Jumpora, a ethnically rich yet desperately impoverished village. Vitale paid a visit to Abigail and was deeply affected by what she saw there. After the conclusion of a civil war many years later, Vitale resolved to find a way to return to Africa and find the people who had taken care of her sister.

"My sister is truly my inspiration," proclaimed Vitale. "She cares about people and showed me that it's the little things we do that can create change around us. Photography and storytelling can be effective tools to open people's eyes and effect positive change."

Putting the camera away

Upon her return to the United States and her post with the AP, Vitale worked to earn grants and to save money to travel the world. In 2000, she was awarded a grant from the Alexia Foundation. Named for Alexia Tsairis, a photojournalism student whose life was cut short by terrorism, the Alexia Foundation is dedicated to helping photographers produce images that promote world peace and cultural understanding.

"The Alexia Foundation quite literally changed my life," said Vitale. "With that grant I was able to travel back to Guinea-Bissau, learn their language and come to understand their struggles. That trip affected me personally in a profound way. In my photographs, I sought to show the similarities more than our differences and how deeply connected we are on this planet. Our lifestyles affect the way others live. I don't claim to be achieving lofty goals, but I believe photojournalism has the ability to foster greater understanding, tolerance and connection between people."

Living in Guinea-Bissau taught Vitale just how hard life can often be. For example, Vitale witnessed the daily struggle of cashew farmers who were affected by fluctuating global markets to the degree that they were often forced to sell their products for less than the cost of growing and cultivating them. Witnessing this ongoing fight for survival left Vitale with a different perspective.

"There are so many issues and quiet stories that get no coverage. I believe it's important to get off the paved road and take the time to understand the complexities that affect so many people on this planet. These are the people who really need their stories to be told," she explained. "There's a lot of pressure to get the shot, and there's a lot of competition, but to understand a culture and get beyond the surface you must earn trust and that can't be done from behind a lens. Sometimes you simply must put the camera away."

The Virginia Tech tragedy
Last April, while visiting her family in Blacksburg, VA, Vitale found herself in the midst of a media frenzy when a gunman opened fire in a Virginia Tech dormitory and classroom in what became the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. 32 lives were taken, more than 25 people were injured, and hundreds of media personnel arrived on the scene to document the tragedy

"It was obvious to everyone that there was simply too much media presence," said Vitale. "The world parachutes into this town for a week while people are trying to cope with loss. We need to capture these news events to show what's happening, but we must act with consideration and compassion."

She described a candlelight vigil that took place after the shooting. During this solemn time of mourning, two students were engaged in a private moment. Standing nearby, Vitale heard the couple ask a photographer "please, don't take our picture." Their request was ignored.

"As photographers we must remember that in order to get a great picture we need to be sensitive," she emphasized. "The Virginia Tech community was so overwhelmed that many closed their doors to the media."

Opening eyes and minds

Vitale feels very strongly that photojournalists have a responsibility and great power to affect policy change. She recently spent several weeks in Oregon documenting conservation issues surrounding the wild salmon decline.

"Habitat destruction, poor water management, and dams have caused wild salmon populations to decline steadily and dramatically over the past several decades," Vitale explained. "Salmon play an important role in the food chain as well as in the heritage of the Pacific Northwest. Sea lions have been the scapegoats for the decline, but they're only eating a small percentage of the salmon stock."

The photos will appear in the September/October issue of National Geographic Adventure and she hopes it will create a new awareness of the issues along the Columbia River. While many Oregonians understand these issues well, Vitale said, it can be very difficult to translate this urgency to those who are passing legislation and making policies in Washington. Vitale's driving motivation is that the stories she and other journalists tell will create awareness and spark some new thinking about old issues.

Protection in face of a sandstorm
Whether she is out on assignment in Oregon or in a remote area of Africa, Vitale can easily get her images to editors using PhotoShelter.

"Editors love PhotoShelter because it's so easy for them to get the images immediately, in whatever file format they need," Vitale said. "After a few days of shooting, I can quickly upload the files into a gallery and provide my editors a link for access."

Vitale also appreciates the value of PhotoShelter's state-of-the-art archiving capabilities. Each of PhotoShelter's mirrored data centers on the East and West Coasts employs RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) systems to ensure images are safe.

"Digital photography is an unstable medium," she explained. "Hard drives crash and files are corrupted. I've lost so many images due to circumstances. I've been in a sandstorm that left my CDs and DVDs scratched. With PhotoShelter, my images are safely stored, organized, searchable and always available."

PhotoShelter has been designed to empower independent photographers like Vitale to conduct their business free from agencies. The business of photography requires a good deal of effort to manage distribution, marketing and sales. PhotoShelter provides the tools photographers need to easily manage their businesses and optimize the time they spend shooting.

Empowering independence
"Agencies have all the resources to sell images, but with over 10,000 photographers and millions of images, a personal touch can be lost," she explained. "No one can sell their images better than the photographers themselves. We need to trust that there are other options to successfully sell our work."

In addition, Vitale says photographers should show their editors that there are alternatives to using an agency to find images.

"You need to be proactive and realize that you know your story better than anyone else. PhotoShelter allows us to create individual edits for each particular niche market. This customized set of images allows us to give editors exactly what they are looking for and we have control over how our images are being sold."