Lala locks eyes with Kristi Odom’s camera. The jaguar’s steely stare reveals nothing of her distressing story. Lala survived illegal wildlife trafficking in the Bolivian Amazon and now lives in a sanctuary with other rescued big cats. As a filmmaker and photographer, Odom travels to remote places to document our planet’s biodiversity and the threats to endangered creatures like Lala.
The photograph of Lala (seen below) is part of a collection from Vital Impacts, a non-profit focused on conservation efforts through storytelling work with visual journalists. For its current initiative, Vital Impacts is selling 100 breathtaking prints from notable photographers to support indigenous communities through COICA (Convening Group of Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon).
This is Lala, a victim of illegal wildlife trafficking from the heart of the Bolivian Amazon. Lala’s story is a heartbreaking reminder of the immense pressures facing the Amazon’s wildlife. Struggling from the destruction of their natural habitats and the relentless demand of the illegal wildlife trade, animals like Lala are increasingly at risk. The Amazon, a vast and biodiverse ecosystem, is home to countless species, but their survival is threatened by human exploitation and environmental degradation. Lala has been rescued and now lives in a sanctuary that is helping her and other jaguars thrive. Lala’s story highlights the urgent need for greater awareness and action to protect these vulnerable creatures and their fragile homes. Photographer and Filmmaker, Kristi Odom, has worked in some of the earth’s most remote locations to help document stories that will help protect our planet’s biodiversity. She is an internationally awarded photographer, an associate fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers, a Nikon Ambassador and a motivational speaker. She believes strongly in the power of photography to help create positive change and ultimately help protect the planet’s wildlife. Follow Kristi on Instagram @kristiodom. Credit: Kristi Odom/Courtesy of Vital Impacts. Kristi Odom
“It is my hope that this work will help raise awareness of the urgent challenges facing our planet,” Vital Impacts founder Ami Vitale said. “In the last fifty years, we have lost 73 percent of the world’s wildlife—a stark reminder of the magnitude of the biodiversity crisis we are confronting. The future of our planet is in our hands. We cannot afford to feel paralyzed by the scale of the challenge nor can we afford to wait for someone else to act – this is up to us.”
The campaign runs through January 31. More information can be found at Vital Impacts. (Click to expand images to full size.)
“P-22 birthed a wildlife movement in L.A. that is only going to grow and grow… Thereís no cat like him.” -Steve Winter P-22 was an elusive yet infamous wild cougar who made Los Angeles’s Griffith Park his home for 10 years, nearly his whole life. He passed away on Dec. 17, 2022, as a result of complications from old age and injuries from a car strike. He was 12-years-old, elderly for a mountain lion. He was beloved by millions and his legacy lives on. He has literally changed the landscape for wildlife in Los Angeles and beyond. The photo sparked a movement to protect southern Californiaís last cougars and other wildlife in two large protected areas bisected by the 101 Freeway north of L.A. It will be the Worldís Largest Wildlife Overpass when completed in 2024. Proceeds from the sale of Hollywood Cougar will benefit Big Cat Voices, a nonprofit bringing the most vital issues facing big cats into the spotlight. Steve Winter, founder of Founder of Big Cat Voices, has been a photographer for National Geographic for over two decades, He specializes in wildlife, and particularly, big cats. He is a Nat Geo Explorer and heís been named BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year and BBC Wildlife Photojournalist of the Year. Follow Steve on Instagram @stevewinterphoto. Credit: Steve Winter/Courtesy of Vital Impacts DAVID WHITE
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While on a remote climbing expedition in Greenland, I was approached by a curious polar bear while scouting fjords in a small zodiac boat. I hope this image transports people to wild arctic regions and creates an emotional connection with this fragile ecosystem. Andy Mann is cofounder of SeaLegacy, an Emmy-nominated Director, 12 time Telly-Award Winner, National Geographic Photographer & marine conservationist whose imagery is helping tell the story of our rapidly changing planet. Having worked on all 7 continents, Andyís imagery is remarkably memorable, reminding us how the emotion of an image can touch our spirit. Follow Andy Mann on Instagram @andy_mann. Credit: Andy Mann/Courtesy of Vital Impacts Andy MannThis is Rajan. He is a 66-year-old Asian elephant brought to the Andaman Islands for logging in the 1950s. He and a small group of 10 elephants were forced to learn how to swim in the ocean to help bring the logged trees to nearby barges and then eventually swim onto the next island. When logging became banned in 2002, Rajan was out of a job. He spent the rest of his days living out an idyllic elephant retirement on one of the islands he helped log. I photographed him and his Majout (caretaker) named Nazroo who had been together for 30yrs and documented Rajan spending time sunbathing on the beach, swimming in the ocean and foraging in the forest. Rajan was the last of the group to survive until his death in 2016. He was truly the last of his kind. This image is from the artist series “The Last of His Kind”. An award-winning photographer, Jody MacDonald is no stranger to adventure and exploration in the last untamed corners of the planet. Follow Jody MacDonald on Instagram @jodymacdonaldphoto Credit: Jody MacDonald/Courtesy of Vital Impacts Jody MacDonaldKing penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) interact on beach on South Georgia Island’s St. Andrews Bay; Southern Ocean; Antarctic Convergance; South Georgia Island. Yva Momatiuk and John Eastcott, a wife and husband team, are internationally published photographers of nature. They practice long commitments to places they love and spend most of the year following animals, ever-changing landscapes, and moving with the light and the seasons while exploring the rhythm and wild essence of remote places. Credit: Yva Momatiuk and John Eastcott/Courtesy of Vital Impacts. John Eastcott and Yva MomatiukLlamas roam freely at the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, a reminder of the intimate connection of people, culture and animals in the high Andes of Peru. Llamas were domesticated to carry heavy loads across steep mountain trails. They made life possible here at this 15th-century icon, often referred to as the Lost City of the Incas. Jim Richardson has built his photographic career around visual storytelling by creating groundbreaking work in documentary, resource issues, environmental photography and the critical concerns of feeding the planet. Before concentrating his working life at National Geographic for the last 35+ years he was noted for his innovative documentary narratives of rural life and adolescence life. For National Geographic he pioneered fresh visual narratives of water issues in the 1990s before beginning his work on food, agricultural development, and the problems surrounding feeding our growing (and hungry) world. He is also known for his decades of photography in Scotland, focusing on the interplay of people and landscapes, history, culture and traditions. Among his awards he is proudest that his fellow National Geographic photographers named him their Photographerís Photographer in 2014 and that the people of Cuba, Kansas (Pop. 186) named him their ìHonored Citizen.î In 2017 Kansas State University bestowed an honorary doctorate for his work in cultural and environmental communications. Follow Jim on Instagram @JimRichardsonNG. Credit: Jim Richardson/Courtesy of Vital Impacts Jim RichardsonA young sperm whale calf in the waters of the Eastern Caribbean. This calf was named ëHopeí by Brian Skerry while working with the researchers that study these whales. Sperm whale families are matrilineal and are led by the older, wiser females. This particular whale family had struggled to produce a female calf in recent years, with only males being born that then died. This calf was a female and offered hope to this family. Brian Skerry is a photojournalist and filmmaker specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. Since 1998 he has been a contract photographer for National Geographic Magazine, having created and photographed more than 30 feature stories, including seven cover stories. In 2014 he was named as a National Geographic Photography Fellow and then named a National Geographic Society Storytelling Fellow in 2017. In 2017 he was also awarded the title of Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year. Follow Brian on Instagram @BrianSkerry. Credit: Brian Skerry/Courtesy of Vital Impacts. Brian SkerryAn Arctic Tern in front of the Monaco glacier in Liefdefjorden, at the northwest tip of Svalbard in the high Arctic. The beautiful and tiny 113-gram Arctic Tern is a super impressive bird! Each year, it makes the longest migration of any animal in the world, traveling between breeding sites in the northern Arctic and survival/moult areas in the Antarctic pack ice zone. That practically means flying from the North Pole to the South Pole and back ñ each year! Miniature transmitters have revealed that they follow zigzagging routes and rack up to 71,000 kilometres annually! Arnfinn Johansen is a wildlife photographer based in Norway. He is a member of the Norwegian Nature Photographers Association and the founder of Oltepesi Tented Safari Camp / oltepesi com, a specialised camp for wildlife photographers in the Maasai Mara Kenya. Arnfinnís work has been recognised in numerous international competitions and is widely displayed in exhibitions and publications. Follow Arnfinn on Instagram @arnfinn_johansen. Credit: Arnfinn Johansen/Courtesy of Vital Impacts. Arnfinn JohansenOff the coast of Guraidhoo, Maldives, two reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi) display their typical feeding behaviour: They circle backwards through the water to filter zooplankton. Fascinated by this unique ìdanceî, I observed these two individuals for a while until they swam closer to each other. I took the chance, held my breath and dove down to capture the moment, that reminded me of Yin and Yang. Melanie Miller is a wildlife photographer. Working for the German foreign service, she lived in Spain, Lebanon, Dominican Republic and Guatemala. Her photos of the endangered Antillean manatee were exhibited in the Dominican Museum for Natural History. Follow Melanie on Instagram @melaniemuellerphoto. Credit: Melanie Miller/Courtesy of Vital Impacts. Melanie M¸llerDolphins at play. Christian Vizl was born in Mexico City and has been a photographer for over three decades. He has won dozens of international photography awards including Wildlife Photographer of the Year, International Photographer of the Year, Sony World Photography Awards and World Photographic Cup. He has served as judge in several international underwater photography contests and his images have been published in numerous outlets including National Geographic and Ocean Geographic. Follow Christian on instagram @christianvizl. Credit: Christian Vizl /Courtesy of Vital Impacts. Christian VizlA swirl of majestic King Fish, known as Kahu in Aotearoa, where I made this photo, each measuring over two feet in length, forms beneath my fins as I ascend slowly from a dive in the Port Knights Islands. Cristina “Mitty” Mittermeier, a visionary photographer, marine biologist, and avid conservationist, stands as a formidable force in the realm of environmental advocacy. In 2014 she, alongside her partner Paul Nicklen, co-founded SeaLegacy, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a healthy and abundant ocean through powerful storytelling and impactful visual media. Through her lens, she conveys the delicate balance of natural ecosystems and the urgency to preserve these habitats that sustain a myriad of life. Her art, driven by a desire to make a difference, serves as a compelling call to action, illustrating the transformative power of photography in raising awareness and inspiring change. Follow Mitty on Instagram @mitty. Credit: Cristina “Mitty” Mittermeier/Courtesy of Vital Impacts. Cristina MittermeierThis is Bob Junior, the handsome king of his territory in Serengeti. He shad his kingdom in a beautiful Kopje, an isolated rocky hill with some trees in the Namer plains. This incredible lion was killed in March 2023 by younger lions who took his pride. Marina Cano is a Spanish wildlife photographer, with more than 25 years of photographic experience and international prestige, of which 20 have been dedicated to nature photography, where she has got extraordinary recognition in this field. In love with the African continent and committed to its conservation, she collaborates with different associations that protect and preserve threatened species. Follow Marina on Instagram @marinacano. Credit: Marina Cano/Courtesy of Vital Impacts. MARINA CANOAn emperor penguin family, during a snowy day. In this case the pose, the positioning and the overall mood of the snow falling created this scene of love, protection and serenity. Emperor penguins create a very unique and strong family bond amongst all members which becomes obvious when they interact with one another. Especially during bad weather, parents will stand in front of their chick facing the elements and protecting the youngster from being exposed to direct wind and snowdrift. When both parents are present at the same time, sometimes they will even stand in a half-circle formation around their chick and really shield it from the weather. Itís a wonderful and uplifting thing to watch. Stefan Christmann, born in 1983 in Koblenz, is a nature photographer and filmmaker from Germany. He was particularly interested in the emperor penguin colony in the neighboring Atka Bay, Antarctica. Heís been captivated by this charismatic bird ever since. With the poetry of his pictures and his emotional stories about the continent at the end of the world, Christmann wants to reveal the special beauty and vulnerability of the polar regions. His active educational work is intended to benefit not only the emperor penguins, but also their endangered Antarctic habitat. Credit: Stefan Christmann/Courtesy of Vital Impacts. Stefan ChristmannJaguar in the jungle Karine Aigner’s life reads like a set of novellas. Raised in Saudi Arabia, Karine motorcycled through Vietnam, circumnavigated the globe by ship, taught English in Taiwan, and then there was the time the hyena pups chewed her shoes (while on her feet). On her first trip to Africa, she fell in love with a continent. From one chapter to the next, her adventures uncover her fervor to tell the stories of life through the lens of a camera; her passion became stories of animals: their relationships to humans, their relationships to their own world, and their existence in the space between the two. Follow Karine on Instagram @kaigner. Credit: Karine Aigner/Courtesy of Vital Impacts. Karine AignerEvery day, western toad tadpoles swim up from the safer depths of the lake in British Columbia, Canada, dodging predators and trying to reach the shallows where they can feed. The tadpoles start becoming toads between 4 and 12 weeks after hatching. An estimated 99% will not survive to adulthood. Those that do make it to adulthood face threats from roads, pesticides and herbicides, and the chytrid fungus. Shane Gross is a Canadian underwater and conservation photojournalist known for his work in marine life photography and promoting ocean and freshwater conservation. His images highlight the beauty of underwater ecosystems while raising awareness about the threats they face. Follow Shane on Instagram @shanegrossphoto. Credit: Shane Gross/Courtesy of Vital Impacts. SHANE GROSS
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