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Kevin Carter: The Consequences of Photojournalism

In 1994, South African photojournalist Kevin Carter won the Pulitzer prize for his

disturbin photoraph of a Sudanese child bein stal!ed b" a vulture #left$% &hat sa'e "ear,

Kevin Carter co''itted suicide% (ithout the facts surroundin his death, this behavior

'a" see' surprisin% )ut Carter received heaps of criticis' for his actions% (hile inSudan, near the villae of A"od, Carter found a s'all, e'aciated toddler strulin to

'a!e her wa" to the food station% (hen she stopped to rest, a vulture landed nearb" with

his e"es on the little irl% Carter too! twent" 'inutes to ta!e the photo, wantin the best

shot possible, before chasin the bird awa"% &he photo was published in The New York 

Times in *arch of 199+, and spar!ed a wide reaction% People wanted to !now what

happened the child, and if Carter had assisted her% The Times issued a state'ent sa"in that

the irl was able to 'a!e it to the food station, but be"ond that no one !nows what

happened to her% )ecause of this, Carter was bo'barded with uestions about wh" he did

not help the irl, and onl" used her to ta!e a photoraph. The St. Petersburg Times in Florida

said this of Carter: "The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering might

 just as !ell be a redator another vulture on the scene." Filmmaker #an Krauss said "$n his

famous icture of the vulture stalking the Sudanese girl $ began to see the embodiment of his

troubled s%che. $ believe Kevin did too. $n the starving child he sa! &frica's suffering( in the

 re%ing vulture he sa! his o!n face." Carter's daughter )egan resonded to such comarisons

!ith "$ see m% dad as the suffering child. &nd the rest of the !orld is the vulture."

-owever, Carter was wor!in in a ti'e when photojournalists were told not to touch

fa'ine victi's for fear of spreadin disease% Carter esti'ated that there were twent"

people per hour d"in at the food center% &he child was not uniue% .eardless, Carteroften e/pressed reret that he had not done an"thin to help the irl, even thouh there was

not 'uch that he could have done, in all actualit"% Carter is the traic e/a'ple of the toll

photoraphin such sufferin can ta!e on a person% Alon with his fa'ous photoraph,

Carter has captured such thins as a public nec!lacin e/ecution in 190s South Africa,

alon with the violence of the ti'e, includin shootouts and other e/ecutions% Carter spo!e

of his thouhts when he too! these photoraphs2 3I had to thin! visuall"%  $ am *ooming in

on a tight shot of the dead gu% and a slash of red. +oing into his khaki uniform in a ool of 

 blood in the sand. The dead man's face is slightl% gra%. ou are 'a!in a visual here% )ut

inside so'ethin is screa'in, 5*" 6od%5 )ut it is ti'e to wor!% 7eal with the rest later% If 

"ou can5t do it, et out of the a'e%3 Carter's suicide is not a direct result of the Sudanesechild nor the accusations that he staged the scene or criticisms that he did not assist her. Carter

had spiraled into a depression, to which 'an" thins were a factor, his vocation  as a

photojournalist in 190s Africa definitel" a lare part of it% Carter and his friends Ken

8osterbroe!, 6re *arinovich, and oao Silva loned to e/pose the brutalit" of Apartheid

to the world% &he" captured the violence of South Africa so vividl" that a ohannesbur

'aazine Living  dubbed the' 3&he )an:)an Club%3  The title stuck.

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,n &ril - -//0 onl% 1 da%s after Carter !on the Pulit*er the 2ang32ang Club made their 

!a% to Toko!a to hotograh an outbreak of violence there. &t around noon Carter returned to

the cit% and heard later on the radio that ,osterbroek had been killed in the conflict and that

)arinovich had been seriousl% !ounded. $t !as obvious to his friends that Carter blamed

himself for ,osterbroek's death and he even confided in his friends that he felt as though he

"should have taken the bullet."

,osterbroek's death hit Carter hard and little things in his life began to fall aart. 4e !as

constantl% haunted b% the atrocities that he had !itnessed through the %ears and finall% on 5ul%

67 -//0 Carter backed his red 8issan truck against a blue gum tree attached a garden hose to

the e9haust ie and rolled u the !indo! to his car. 4e turned on his !alkman and rested his

head against his backack until he died of carbon mono9ide oisoning.

Carter has become a s%mbol in the arts. $n music )anic Street Preachers recorded a song abouthim !ith his name as its title. $n literature )ark . #aniele!ski based his character ;ill

 8avidson off of Carter and even described a hotograh identical to Carter's Sudanese child in

his novel. $n theater the 5unction &venue Theater Coman% uses the character of Saul to ortra%

the difficulties of being a hotograher in &artheid South &frica in their la% Tooth and Nail .

corses > anger > ain ... of starving or !ounded children of trigger3ha% madmen often

 olice of killer e9ecutioners... $ have gone to join Ken if $ am that luck%."