Lavazza Calendar 2019 by Ami Vitale

“In the beginning, photography was my passport to meeting people, learning, and experiencing new cultures. Now it is more than just a passport. It’s a tool for creating awareness and understanding across cultures, communities, and countries; a tool to make sense of our commonalities in the world we share.”

With these words, Ami Vitale describes what photography means to her: a way of making contact with the world and sharing it.

As a Nikon Ambassador and National Geographic photographer, Ami is the creative mastermind behind “Good to Earth,” the Lavazza 2019 Calendar edition. 

In her professional career as an artist, Ami has worked as a photographer, writer, and director. She has traveled to more than 100 countries where she witnessed civil unrest and violence. However, in her many travels she has also experienced surreal beauty and the eternal power of the human spirit. She lived in mud huts and in war zones, contracted malaria and photographed a high-impact story about the transportation and release of one of the last white rhinos in the world.

In 2009, Ami decided to turn her attention to the world’s environmental issues. Nowadays, nature and the environment that surrounds us are her greatest interest. She is a six-time recipient of World Press Photos, including winning First Prize in 2018 for her National Geographic magazine story about a community in Kenya that protects elephants.   

Ami is also a founding member of Ripple Effect Images, an organization of renowned female scientists, writers, photographers, and filmmakers who work together to create powerful and persuasive stories that shed light on the hardships women in developing countries face and on the programs that can help them.

“Good to Earth” represents the welcome that embraces you looking through the new Lavazza 2019 Calendar. A project that brings the magnifying glass closer to Lavazza’s sensitivity to environmental issues. A tale of positive stories and virtuous behaviors created thanks to six “nature artists”: Saype, Mantra, Millo, Gerada, Gomez, and Hula. And this is where the role of UN Environmental comes in, a partnership with Lavazza based on six projects such as reforestation, protection of biodiversity, and conversion of industrial areas into green areas. Twelve testimonies to prove that there is still good on Earth.

The photographer believes that there’s still a way to embrace nature, in a way that makes humans feel a part of it, instead of something separate. Living in a better world is possible, and how we achieve this is only up to us.