The Journalist, the Boy and the Vulture - Controversy of Saddest Photo

This article is about the saddest photo ever taken on the planet earth so far. Yes, you think it right; I am talking about the photo of Kevin Carter. The photo than won him Pulitzer prize in 1993.

In 1993, Sudan was having a famine situation. United nation was doing its efforts of distributing food to the people in Sudan. Some of the photo journalists used to accompany them for news reports and photographs about the famine situation at that time.

In March 1993, on one such trip Kevin Carter accompanied the UN team to Southern Sudan. The operation was named by UN as Operation life Line Sudan. The UN helicopter landed near the feeding centre for 30 minutes (time needed to distribute food) and Kevin Carter stayed near the feeding centre and started taking photos of people and the draught. As the public in southern Sudan had seen that UN helicopter has landed, they went to the feeding centre to collect food. However, their children remained back doing different stuff. One of the photographs taken by Kevin included a photo of a boy and a vulture. This photograph became a sensation and after one year Kevin was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for such an unusual featured photograph.

What the Picture Says?

This picture was taken by Kevin at that time. The picture shows a boy that looks like he is going to die. And a vulture is sitting behind him waiting for him to die so that he can eat the food.

The Reality of the Photograph:

In reality of the photograph, the child showed in the photo is not a boy but a Sudanese girl. The vulture is sitting 20 meters away from her. The reason the vulture was sitting there is that, near the feeding facility that was located around one kilometer away from the local huts of southern Sudanese. Near the local huts was a dumping pit where vultures used to roam. The one showed in the picture was also standing near that dumping pit. On the other hand the child was crying because of hunger while her mother was collecting food from the feeding centre. Later, after taking the photo Kevin shooed that bird away. Source - Wikipedia

This is also stated in the book of another photographer Joao Silva, who accompanied Kevin in that particular trip, in his book ‘The boy who became a postcard’.

Criticism:

While Kevin received the award but the photo received many negative comments. It led to the formation ethical limitations of Journalists and the Journalistic Code of Conduct.

About Kevin Carter:

Kevin Carter received the Pulitzer award after one year in 1994. Although he had become famous journalist, but the fame had brought him depression due to much anticipated criticism by critics. So, he took his life by taping exhaust pipe of his truck and connecting it to the driver’s seat. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

But one thing still remains unanswered and that is, where does the allegiance of a journalist lies, with his job or humanity? In journalism it is told to students, a journalist should not become part of the story…

Sources:

1. "Kevin Carter." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Jan. 2013. Web. 02 Oct. 2013.


2. "The Journalist, the Vulture, and the Child." About.com African History. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2013.