The first time I met Ami Vitale, at a National Geographic Adventure party, I did what you typically do in such a gathering: I asked about her photography work. “Oh, tell me about your work,” she said, so I did. But then I asked again. “Oh, no, tell me more,” she said. By the time the current had swept us into different conversations, I had failed to get the slightest crumb from her. “That’s Ami,” shrugged writer and frequent Vitale collaborator Paul Kvinta, “international woman of mystery.”

Vitale is a photojournalist, a cultural documentarian, and how fitting that she shifts the conversation away from herself and onto others, because that is the strength of her photography: focusing on others, whether it’s the rickshaw pullers of India or the intractable conflict in Kashmir. “Cultural documentary” is simply a fancy name for taking pictures of people, and what Vitale does is show how people live, how they love, how they mourn and fight and try to make sense of the spirit in a material world, often in the globe’s most dangerous or downtrodden places. That she does this sensitively and with an eye for beauty is her talent. That she does this and continues to be optimistic, bright, and hopeful is her charm.

Vitale has worked on contract for National Geographic for many years, been published in all or most of the top-name media outlets, and won heaps of awards. She grew up in Florida, went to university in North Carolina, was recently based in D.C., and is moving to Miami, but travels constantly. It’s taken the better part of a year to interview her, during which time emails arrived from at least four continents. Indeed, two weeks ago she was in Prague, then a couple days ago popped up in India. Fittingly, there was no word what she was doing there or where she would go next. It remains a bit of a mystery.

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What was your upbringing like and how did it prepare you—or not—for your career?
My upbringing was an interesting one and I would say I was given a solid foundation for life. I have tried to understand where certain qualities come from and while I have no answer, as a child I was always very curious and questioning, just as I am now. Photography took a hold of me from an early age. It is magical and I loved exploring life around me and the camera became my passport to seeing the world and meeting people. I was very shy but always very interested in people and cultures and this was the medium that allowed me to experience and explore.

I need an atlas to follow where you’ve lived, let alone traveled. Where have you called home base and when?
This is humorous trying to recount where I have lived and worked and might be bordering on impossible. The beginning of my peripatetic ways was when I was 19 and I studied in Denmark for a year. I hitchhiked with my best friend through Europe, stopped in Prague and taught English for a summer. This was kind of a turning point and I realized what a fascinating world exists outside the borders of my own country and my own imagination. I eventually came back to live in Prague for 3 years and started my life then as a freelance journalist. Since then, I have been working and living in more than 70 countries, but what is the point in counting? I feel privileged to have had the experiences, both good and bad and believe it has shaped me into the person I am today.

How do you prepare for an assignment?
It depends where I am going and what the climate and nature of the assignment is, but one piece of advice I could give is the old adage…”less is more”. The more you bring, the more you must carry. The less you bring, the more lightly you tread and leave behind. It is much better to try to adapt and fit in and to contribute to local economies. For example, I buy local clothes and food (minus high altitude or specialized equipment). Very often I see people bringing bags and bags of powerbars and supplies and clothing which is completely unsuited to where they may be. In my opinion, you are the guest to this country and place and respecting and taking part in the life around you is an important component to getting the most out of your experience traveling. The more we try to create what is familiar to us, the less experiences we will have and after all, what is the point of traveling if you just want a repetition of what you have at home? It is all about adaptation and experiencing where you are.

What gear do you carry?
I use Nikon bodies and usually just a few lenses but the choice of lenses really depends on the nature of the assignment. If I am shooting wildlife, I need very different lenses, (longer) then when I am doing portraits of a culture. Mainly I like to travel lightly and bring 2 bodies, 3 lenses and a tripod. I’ll usually buy medicines in country as they are always cheaper there. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, I like to bring gifts. It is the minimal that i can do to bring small tokens of thanks for the countless people who give so much to make sure that I am safe and travel well.

Your photos often imply intimacy. And certainly, physical closeness. How do you manage to get so close? And in those situations, how do you balance the role of you the person with you the photojournalist? Can you separate those two roles? Should you? Or it silly to think there are two “yous”?

There are not two roles and I try to be as transparent as possible. I have always been very honest about my intentions and careful to analyze my own motivations. I believe the only way to understand is to really feel what you are writing and documenting. How can you describe a situation unless you really understand it yourself?

Is objectivity an illusion? What does objectivity mean to you? Is it something journalists should strive for? Why or why not?
Yes, I believe objectivity is an illusion but I also believe that there are a multitude of viewpoints and that no one “Truth” exists. I believe that unless we understand and give voice to these perspectives, reason remains veiled. Ignorance in each other’s stories leads us to assume we know them. It allows us to maintain perceptions of differences based on our own preconceived notions.

Tell me about Kashmir—how long were you there? Was it an assignment and if so how did it come about?
I lived in India for almost 6 years and nearly 4 of those years were spent primarily in Kashmir. It was not an assignment but after my first visit there, it captured my heart and each year I found ways to fund my work there. I received several grants and it became a very important piece of my life and my understanding of the world. I feel the only way to understand the complexities that exist in all of our cultures and conflicts is by staying for a long period of time. The problem with most mainstream media, as I see it, is the ephemeral nature of it. Journalists never stay long enough to show the multitude of viewpoints that exist. Parachuting in and then leaving is simply not an option to me. I think that only contributes to stereotyping and sensational coverage of these very complex histories and stories.

I saw a criticism of your Kashmir work that said it was too pretty, as if photojournalism has to be gritty to have gravitas. What are your thoughts on that?
The reality is always something in the middle and generally journalists completely sensationalize events and places. In regards to Kashmir, it is an unbelievably beautiful place and my point of being there was to show how this exquisite culture every day is being lost to conflict. The traditions and the natural beauty of this place, the people and the culture is degenerating into a language of mourning. I understand that people can think making pretty pictures lacks gravitas but my point was to show the unexpected side of war: There are beautiful human beings caught in the middle of something much bigger than themselves. Unless we can see the humanity that exists everywhere and allow the people to touch us in some way, then there will never be resolution. We must be forced to see ourselves in the faces of war and realize that in fact, we are all no different from each other.

Last year, NGM ran your piece on India’s rickshaw pullers. It was a nice piece, but it seemed as if you and the writer produced completely different stories. The writer came across as afraid even to get in a rickshaw, but your photos showed you were out there in the rain and mud and muck along with the pullers. Do you often work on stories where the words and photos asynchronous? Is that frustrating? How often are you and the writer working together?
Yes, it’s true that I sometimes work with writers on stories and their perceptions will be very different from my own. Yet, it is important to have different sets of eyes. I hope that people will see something different in the photographs than the written story. After all, this is the point of collaboration. I thought the story you speak about was written with sensitivity and in an interview with the author, he explains why he did not want to ride in the rickshaw. I respect that we all have different perspectives and viewpoints and while my style is to “get in the trenches” I can understand there are other ways of story telling.

What’s your take on the rickshaw pullers? Some say it’s abhorrent that people would let another human pull them around in a cart. Others say it’s the only work these men can get, and that’s better than nothing. Is it a black and white issue? Or does your perspective fall somewhere in between?
It probably falls somewhere in between. The rickshaw pullers themselves had great pride in what they were doing and unless the government can offer them a better alternative, than banning it and rendering them jobless and homeless is not an option. In fact, there are people who are forced to do far more abhorrent things like picking through raw sewage with their bare hands. If the government is so concerned about the well being of the rickshaw pullers, I must ask, why would they not first try to protect the lives of those who are even farther on the margins of society?

I’ve noticed a dramatic increase in fear of Muslims in this country—or at least people more willing to talk about it. You spent a lot of time in Muslim lands and also in places where Muslims mix, sometimes violently, with those from other religions. I know this is a broad question, but are Muslims misunderstood here? What’s your take on Islamic culture? Can we find common ground and if so, how?
I have to say when I dare to turn on the TV, I often see an America looking at the world with its eyes. Journalists are giving this narrative that our life, our values are somehow isolated from the rest of the world, like, America is a different planet with different values. It’s copyrighted and nobody shares these same values. Actually, there are more similarities than differences between religions and humanity. The way to common ground is by seeing yourself in others. I want to copy a quote by Arundhati Roy:

“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To
never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of
life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty
to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what
is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To
try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget.”

How important is photojournalism today? With the economy tanking and magazines struggling, are you seeing more or less support for it?
Of course photojournalism is important but it has always been a struggle to find support even since I began. Just because magazines and newspapers are going through a difficult period does not reduce the need for great storytelling and I believe now is a perfect time to find opportunity and recreate ourselves for other mediums. I feel it’s a glorious time for photojournalism and story telling. Our medium is changing and the new opportunities are out there but take a little more work to find. I don’t understand why everyone is afraid of change, the same thing happened to radio years ago. Everyone said it was dead. Photography is not dead and if we can harness all the creativity and tools available to us, we can make some amazing work and deliver it to audiences we never dreamt of reaching before. I see this as an empowering and exciting time.

How important is your gender to the types of images—or rather, the situations—you shoot? How has being a woman enabled you to shoot women in places where interactions between the sexes is more structured and restricted? And how has it affected you elsewhere in these cultures?
Where one door closes, another opens. I don’t attempt to do the same stories as my male counterparts. Being a woman has given me a different perspective and different access that has been very important and useful to the work and stories I cover.

Do you ever get intimidated when you shoot? If so, how do you get past it to produce good work?
To be honest, it’s mainly before or after but while I am photographing and working with people, I am completely in the moment. The most difficult part of what I do is the emotional toll it takes on my spirit. I have to say, after all the sadness of some of the things I am witness to, I am grateful for all these experiences. I think it’s made me a richer person and more compassionate. I can look at situations more clearly with real ideas how to contribute to positive change rather than just feeling hopeless. There is always something I can be doing to change the terrible injustices that exist and starting with myself is not a bad place to begin.

How many days a year do you spend on the road? It gets old, doesn’t it? How
do you deal with loneliness or boredom?
Last year I probably had maximum 2-3 weeks at home, if that. I have to say that boredom is not something I have to deal with but one of the more difficult aspects has been dealing with loneliness. It sounds incredibly exotic to travel the world but the reality is that you must be emotionally self reliant. I look back on experiences I had and now wonder how i got through them. They were sometimes unimaginable, often lonely and occasionally utterly terrifying. On the other hand, traveling “alone” opened up the possibility of meeting the most incredible people who I may not have met if I were in a team. They changed my life, showed me all the possibilities that exist and inspired me to continue. There is an upside to being vulnerable.

For the last year you’ve been working a big project with the Nature Conservancy on art and sustainability. Talk about that a little—where have you been, what have you shot, etc.
I had the unique opportunity to travel to 11 diverse landscapes around the world ranging from the tropical climates of the islands of Micronesia and the Marshalls to the rugged terrains of Western Australia, and other lush locations like China, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Mexico, Alaska and more. It was a gift after covering conflicts and seeing the deeply depressing sides of humanity for so many years. The experience completely injected a sense of hope and understanding into my consciousness and changed the way i view the world. I had the privilege of working together with the Nature Conservancy and world renowned designers: Yves Behar, Stephen Burks, Hella Jongerius, Maya Lin, Christien Meindersma, Isaac Mizrahi, Abbott Miller, Ted Muehling, Paulina Reyes, and Ezri TaraziIt. My role was to give a sense of place to the exhibit and it opened at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in NYC last month and will be there until January. Later, it will travel for another 5 years.

The artists took a sustainable resource from each location and created a work of art that can be produced to support local populations so they do not have to rely on limited, non sustainable resources for their livelihoods. It’s a powerful concept because for so long
conservation has left people out of the equation as protectors of the planet. It is a necessary step in recognizing that the indigenous groups living in these pristine and often threatened environments are the ones who can determine its destiny if we as consumers give them a
chance. In fact, we all live in an intricate web and each one of us has an impact on the world around us.

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To see more of Ami Vitale’s work, visit her website.

To see a video interview with Ami Vitale on the rickshaw pullers of India, visit this National Geographic page.

To see Vitale’s work in person, visit Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in New York, where Design for a Living World appears through January 4.

To study visual storytelling with Vitale in Peru in late October through Momenta workshops, check out this page.

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All photographs courtesy Ami Vitale.

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