Kevin Carter - THE GIRL & THE VULTURE

Kevin Carter - THE GIRL AND THE VULTURE

To begin with, let us travel back to the 1960's, Johannesburg, South Africa. There, young "white" boy Kevin Carter was confused and irritated by the severe discrimination against the "blacks." Although leading a compared comfortable childhood, Carter wasn't happy. The strong conscious of equality and the desire to make a change to the world led him to a winding road.

Being passionate, Carter chose to become a photographer. He and three of his friend established the "Bang-Bang Club," which aimed at eliminating the ongoing violence in South Africa. The story was then turned into the film "the Bang Bang Club."

Here's the link to the official website: The Bang Bang Club 

One of the most shocking photo he took at that time was a means of execution called "the necklacing," inclusive of putting a burning tire filled with gasoline onto one's neck. It was a painful process, it took the victim more than twenty minutes before they eventually were burnt to death.

What followed was his most famous or, in a way, notorious photograph in his lifetime. In 1993, Carter traveled to Sudan, where serious civil war was taking place, as well as the devastating famine. There he witnessed the vulture (禿鷹) staring eagerly at the little girl in front of the picture. The photo overwhelmed the world. As it won him a Pulitzer Prize for feature photography(普立茲攝影獎), the photograph forced him into the spotlight but also into the blame for not lending the starving child a helping hand.

The sweetness of the pleasure for winning the grand prize did not prevent him from the depression. On 27 July, 1994, Carter killed himself at the age of 33. Instead of feeling guilty, many of Carter's friends stood out for him and claimed that it was the dilemma he had long suffered that took away their beloved friend away. The suicide of Carter was another shocking news to the world, the role of the photographer was heatedly debated, and also the way the public had treated the young photographer.

Even till today, the dramatic death of Kevin Carter still remains a unsolved question to the world. As most of the people care about whether he chose to be a outsider or not, it seems more important to me that we should all be aware of all the needed and the injustice around us. Maybe that's the change which Kevin Carter wanted to see the most.

Prominent Taiwanese author 李家同 wrote a imaginary story for the photograph, named李家同-我只有八歲

The official website of the movie "The Death of Kevin Carter":

The Death of Kevin Carter

An article from TIME MAGAZINE after Kevin Carter's death:

TIME MAGAZINE

The official trailer of "The Bang Bang Club":

Photograph from:

http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/vulture-stalking-a-child/

For more information, go to:

http://twghome.pixnet.net/blog/post/14129703-%5B%E8%BD%89%E9%8C%84%5D-%E6%9D%8E%E5%AE%B6%E5%90%8C%E6%95%99%E6%8E%88%E5%92%8C%E5%87%B1%E6%96%87%E5%8D%A1%E7%89%B9%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E8%88%87%E6%AD%BB

http://roads.co/S=0/roads-blog/documentary-the-death-of-kevin-carter-by-dan-krauss/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Carter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bang-Bang_Club

--492 words in total