A hungry vulture hovers around a starving child. Her head rests on the parched earth while trying to reach a feeding center in Sudan. That is the subject of photographer Kevin Carter's Pulitzer prize winning shot in 1994. Proceeding the public release of this image several viewers called and wrote the New York Times asking the outcome of this starving child. The paper claimed it did not know. There are few versions of this story. One states Carter photographed the child and later chased off the vulture, another claims Carter was told not to come in contact with the Sudanese for fear of disease. Kevin Cater committed suicide three months after capturing this image.
The 1998 Sudanese famine was caused by drought and human rights abuse by rebels and the Sudanese government. Other contributing factors were the politically motivated destruction of agriculture and neglect from the international community. Kevin Carter photographed many starving Sudanese during this time. Prior to his suicide he was a sports photographer in 1983 but quickly moved onto a more serious career in photojournalism.
Pulitzer prizes are awarded for outstanding achievements in the arts with a focus on photojournalism, literature and music. Each winner of the Pulitzer prize receives $10,000. Was it morally correct to award the prize money to Kevin Carter when $10,000 could nourish a whole Sudanese village? Shouldn't the girl captured for an eternity in Carter's image be compensated. The internet did not reveal what Kevin Carter did with his money before committing suicide. It was known he had a drug addiction and was haunted by the images he sought so desperately after.
Why does this still go on today? How do we encourage excellence in catching the world's eye without exploiting others? Can artists financially afford to give back to their subjects? Why didn't Kevin Carter pick up the Sudanese child and carry her to the feeding station? Do people like this need to distance themselves from tragedy to perform their jobs? What do you think?
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