Kevin carter For other people named Kevin Carter, see Kevin Carter (disambiguation). Kevin Carter (13 September 1960 – 27 July 1994)[1] was a South African photojournalist and member of the Bang-Bang Club. He was the recipient in 1994 of a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph depicting the 1993 famine in Sudan. He took his own life at the age of 33. His story is depicted in the book The Bang Bang Club,[2] written by Greg Marinovich and João Silva and published in 2000. Kevin Carter KevinCarter.jpg Born 13 September 1960 Johannesburg, South Africa Died 27 July 1994 (aged 33) Parkmore, Johannesburg, South Africa Occupation Photojournalist Notable work The vulture and the little girl Early life Early work In Sudan Edit In March 1993, Robert Hadley of the UN Operation Lifeline Sudan offered João Silva the opportunity to travel to Sudan and report about the famine in South Sudan embedding with the rebels in that area's civil war.[5] Silva told Carter, who felt it was an opportunity to expand his freelance career and use work as a way to address personal problems.[6] Operation Lifeline Sudan had been having funding difficulties,[7] and the UN believed that publicising the area's famine and needs would help aid organisations sustain funding. Silva and Carter were apolitical and desiring only to photograph.[8] After flying to Nairobi, the two found out that new fighting in Sudan would force them to wait in that city indefinitely. During this time, Carter made a day trip with the UN to Juba in the south Sudan to photograph a barge with food aid for the region. Soon afterwards, the UN received permission from a rebel group to fly food aid to Ayod. Hadley invited Silva and Carter to fly there with him.[9] Once in Ayod, Silva and Carter separated to shoot photos of famine victims, discussing between themselves the shocking situations they were witnessing. Silva found rebel soldiers who could take him to someone in authority. Carter joined him. One of the soldiers, who did not speak English, was interested in Carter's wristwatch. Carter gave him the cheap watch as a gift.[10] The soldiers served as their bodyguards.[11][12] Pulitzer Prize photograph in Sudan Edit Main article: The vulture and the little girl Carter shot an image of what appeared to be a little girl, fallen to the ground from hunger, while a vulture lurked on the ground nearby. He told Silva he was shocked by the situation he had just photographed, and had chased the vulture away. A few minutes later, Carter and Silva boarded a small UN plane and left Ayod for Kongor.[13] Sold to The New York Times, the photograph first appeared on 26 March 1993, and syndicated worldwide. Hundreds of people contacted the newspaper to ask the fate of the girl. The paper said that according to Carter, "she recovered enough to resume her trek after the vulture was chased away" but that it was unknown whether she reached the UN food centre."[14] In April 1994, the photograph won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.[15] In 2011, the child's father revealed the child was actually a boy, Kong Nyong, and had been taken care of by the UN food aid station. Nyong had died four years prior, c. 2007, of "fevers", according to his family.[16] Other work Awards Edit In April 1994, Carter's photograph of a starving Sudanese child being eyed by a vulture won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.[18] Death Edit On 27 July 1994, Carter drove to Parkmore near the Field and Study Centre, an area where he used to play as a child, and died by taping one end of a hose to his pickup truck’s exhaust pipe and running the other end to the driver's side window. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning at the age of 33. Portions of Carter's suicide note read:[18] I'm really, really sorry. The pain of life overrides the joy to the point that joy does not exist. ...depressed ... without phone ... money for rent ... money for child support ... money for debts ... money!!! ... I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain ... of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners ... I have gone to join Ken if I am that lucky. The final line is a reference to his recently deceased colleague Ken Oosterbroek.[19] In popular culture Edit The 1996 song "Kevin Carter" by rock band Manic Street Preachers, from their fourth album Everything Must Go, was inspired by Carter's life and suicide.[20] The lyrics were written by Richey Edwards shortly before his own disappearance. The 2001 album Poets and Madmen, by American heavy metal band Savatage, is inspired by the life and death of Kevin Carter.[21] In the 2010 film The Bang Bang Club, Carter was played by Taylor Kitsch.[22] References Further reading External links Last edited 4 months ago by 47.233.46.16 RELATED ARTICLES Bang-Bang Club João Silva (photographer) Portuguese-born South African war photographer The vulture and the little girl Photograph by Kevin Carter

• published: 02 Dec 2021
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