Photojournalism in South Africa

“The Bang Bang Club"

Background

The Bang Bang Club was a label primarily associated with four photographers active within the townships of South Africa between 1990 and 1994, during the transition from the apartheid system to government based on universal suffrage.

Apartheid was a system of racial segregation in South Africa enforced through legislation by the National Party (NP) governments, the ruling party from 1948 to 1994, under which the rights, associations, and movements of the majority black inhabitants were curtailed and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained.

A Hidden War

This period saw much black on black violence, particularly fighting between supporters of the African National Congress (ANC) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), after the lifting of the bans on both political parties.

The Photographers

Kevin Carter, Greg Marinovich, Ken Oosterbroek, and João Silva were the four associated with the name, although a number of photographers and photojournalists worked alongside them.

Kevin Carter

Carter was the first to photograph a public execution via "necklacing" by black Africans in South Africa in the mid-1980s.

Carter later spoke of the images:

"I was appalled at what they were doing. But then people started talking about those pictures... then I felt that maybe my actions hadn't been at all bad. Being a witness to something this horrible wasn't necessarily such a bad thing to do."

Kevin Carter

In March 1993, while on a trip to Sudan, Carter was preparing to photograph a starving toddler trying to reach a feeding centre when a vulture landed nearby. Carter reported taking the picture and leaving. He was told not to touch the children for fear of transmitting disease.

Sold to the New York Times, the photograph was carried in many other newspapers around the world. Hundreds of people contacted the newspaper to ask the fate of the girl. The paper reported that it was unknown whether she had managed to reach the feeding centre. In April 1994, the photo won the Pulitzer Prize for Photography. Carter committed suicide three months later.

Greg Marinovich

He co-authored the book The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War, which details South Africa's transition to democracy.

He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for photography in 1991 for his coverage of African National Congress supporters brutally murdering a man they believed to be an Inkatha spy.

Ken Oosterbroek

Ken Oosterbroek documented South Africa's transitional until he was killed when National Peace-Keeping Force members panicked under fire in Tokoza in 1994. He was named Ilford Press Photographer of the Year in 1989 and 1994.

João Silva

Silva’s images have won numerous awards, including the World Press Photo. He is the co-writer of the Bang Bang Club book that the movie was based on. In 2010 Silva lost both his legs after stepping on a land mine while on assignment in Afghanistan.