Leading photographers donate their images to help the environment
Hannah Le Leu - Against All Odds. One hundred photographers have contributed wildlife photos to the Vital Impacts initiative. The images will be sold to raise funds and awareness for grassroots conservation organizations. This photo, by Hannah Le Leu, shows a green sea turtle hatchling surfacing for air near Heron Island, Australia, beneath a sky filled with predatory birds.
Hannah Le Leu
Ami Vitale - Kamara and Kilifi. Vital Impacts was founded by visual journalist Eileen Mignoni and Ami Vitale, who was a conflict photographer for a decade before becoming a wildlife photographer. This image by Vitale shows Kilifi, an 18-month-old rhino, and his keeper, Kamara. Kilifi was hand-raised at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya.
Ami Vitale
Ami Vitale - Goodbye Sudan. Here, Joseph Wachira comforts Sudan, the last male northern white rhino on the planet, moments before its death in March 2018 at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in northern Kenya. Now, two females are all that remains of the species. "I think that this image is so beautiful and heartbreaking," said Vitale. "It represents the best and worst of humanity. I think people like JoJo (Joseph Wachira) in this photo represent the best of humanity, and that we all have it in us, and that it's just about reimagining our world and dreaming and believing that we can change this course that we're on."
Ami Vitale
Jody MacDonald - Rajan the Swimming Elephant. Rajan, a 66-year-old Asian elephant swimming in the Indian Ocean. Rajan was taken to the the Andaman Islands for logging in the 1950s, according to photographer Jody MacDonald. After logging was banned, Rajan continued to live there, "sunbathing on the beach, swimming in the ocean and foraging in the forest," until his death until 2016.
Jody MacDonald
Andrew Suryono - An Orangutan's Struggle for Survival. Orangutans are known to imitate human behavior and this youngster is sheltering from the rain under a leaf. The orangutan is Asia's only great ape and is found mostly in Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia. Bornean orangutan populations have fallen by more than 50% over the past 60 years, and the species has lost more than half its habitat in the past 20 years, according to the WWF.
Andrew Suryono
Cristina Mittermeier - Crabeater Seals. Crabeater seals relaxing in the Antarctic, in an image captured by conservation photography pioneer Cristina Mittermeier. Through her organization SeaLegacy, Mittermeier is working to support new marine protected areas in the Antarctic Peninsula.
Cristina Mittermeier
Babak Tafreshi - Desert in Moonlight. This image shows Death Valley National Park, in California. "Being an International Dark Sky Park, the night environment of Death Valley is protected from light pollution which makes it a favorite stargazing destination, being only a few hours drive away from Los Angeles or Las Vegas," photographer Babak Tafreshi told Vital Impacts.
Babak Tafreshi
Stephen Wilkes - Serengeti Day to Night. For his project "Day to Night," Stephen Wilkes creates images of landscapes photographed from a fixed camera angle for up to 30 hours. Blending these images into a single photograph can take months. Pictured, is Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.
Stephen Wilkes
Anand Varma - Anna's Hummingbird Drinking Nectar. This photograph by Anand Varma shows an Anna's hummingbird drinking artificial nectar through a glass vessel, using its forked tongue.
Anand Varma
Beth Moon - Shebehon Forest. Dragon's blood trees in the Shebehon Forest, on the island of Socotra, Yemen. "Once part of a vast forest, these remaining trees are now classified as endangered," photographer Beth Moon told Vital Impacts. "Recent years have shown a troubling decline due to over-grazing by goats, harvesting from islanders, and insufficient cloud cover needed for young saplings."
Beth Moon
Jane Goodall - Self Portrait. Here, celebrated primatologist Jane Goodall is pictured with a telescope, searching for chimpanzees in the forest of Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Goodall took this photo in around 1962, using a camera fastened to a tree branch. "I had to find a place where there was a tree that was just right for balancing the camera," Goodall told Vital Impacts. "I had to set up the tripod and fiddle about until I had the tripod and the imagined image of me framed just right ... I was pretty proud of myself. I love that picture."
Jane Goodall
Jennifer Hayes - Seeking Shelter. A harp seal pup shelters from the winds that scour the sea ice covering the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, photographed by Jennifer Hayes.
Jennifer Hayes
Steve Winter - Pepe's Swim with Jaguars. Two jaguars being rescued from the illegal pet trade in south of Cancun, Mexico, in 2008. The animals had been kept as pets and then simply let loose when they were no longer wanted, according to photographer Steve Winter. These two animals were rescued and lived out their days in a sanctuary. Winter and his wife Sharon Guynup have been uncovering the illegal trade of big cats for decades.
Steve Winter
Matthieu Paley - Ice Rider Siberia. A bird's-eye view of Lake Baikal, the world's largest freshwater lake. "During Winter the ice is up to 1.5 meters thick, allowing trucks and animals to cross safely," photographer Matthieu Paley told Vital Impacts. "The white lines are cracks in the ice and as temperatures change these emit loud shuddering noises, reinforcing the eerie atmosphere."
Matthieu Paley
Joel Sartore - Grey-tailed Moustached Monkeys. These monkeys are pictured at the wildlife rehab center at ONG Animals World in Libreville, Gabon. This photograph is part of the Photo Ark, a documentary project founded by photographer Joel Sartore to save species and habitat.
Joel Sartore
Michael Yamashita - Sandstone Pillars surrounded by Mist. This image of sandstone pillars in Wulingyuan, China, was captured by Michael Yamashita.
Michael Yamashita
Nick Brandt - Harriet and people in fog, Zimbabwe, 2020. Harriet, a giant eagle owl, was rescued as a chick and has lived at Kuimba Shiri Bird Sanctuary in Zimbabwe for 35 years, according to photographer Nick Brandt. The fog was created by fog machines on location, as a "unifying visual." "We increasingly find ourselves in a kind of limbo, a natural world now fading from view," Brandt told Vital Impacts. "The fog is also an echo of the suffocating smoke from the wildfires, intensified by climate change, devastating so much of the planet."