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Photographer Suicide Pulitzer Winning Photo
The story bout the life, work and suicide of a Pulitzer-prize winning South African photojournalist. Kevin Carter took the above heart breaking photo of a starving child who collapse on the ground struggling to get to a food center during a famine in 1993. In the background a vulture waits for the death of the child. Haunted by the horrific images from Sudan, Carter commited suicide in 1994 after receiving the award.
Source: NPR
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July 29th, 2006 at 6:48 am
He also received many death threats for that picture which, along with the horrific display, is also said to have contributed to his suicide. What could he have done differently? Nothing.
December 28th, 2006 at 4:55 am
This makes me sad. I litterlly had tears in my eyes. I wish there was something that I could do to prevent things like this from happening….. gosh that is really sad. i feel so sorry for the child
January 5th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
thats so sad!
January 8th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
children should be protected, no matter what . i really don’t care when your an adult. but all children should be protected, no matter what
January 21st, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Instead of feeling sad and powerless, why don’t we ALL do something about such situations?
To start with, each of us can make a small cash donation to the charitable organizations already working on Third World projects……….
April 1st, 2007 at 7:00 am
that is so said,and ya children should be protected.
July 12th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Next time whenever you have a levish lunch or dinner, see if you have the heart to think of that picture in your mind, and think how unevenly man has distributed GOD,s resources among themselves. Think of how many lives the food is worth that you dine in big resturants, think how many lives you could save by donating that money to some charity than spending it on one time lunch or dinner.
August 13th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
“all children should be protected, no matter what.”
I’ll should you one better:
The world should be a peaceful place and everyone should be happy all the time and nobody should ever feel pain or die ever.
Wake up. People are shit and life is temporary.
Things do or do not happen.
Nothing ever should.
November 22nd, 2007 at 7:29 am
watchin this makes me literally burst into tears!!! I cant imagine that peopl elive like this…………….I thank god for EVERYTHING that i have and i pray for the sick, the needy, the poor, the starving and the children of the world. Whatever happened to this little boy, i pray that he is in one peace. As cliche as this might sound i truly do pray for world peace. I pray that we all have peace within ourselves and those that are less fortunate than us……such as this little boy.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:17 am
Praying doesn’t do any good!!!! If it did, these things would not be the way they are! Don’t you think THOSE people pray the whole time their babies are dying???? “Give it to God”, right, like that EVER solved any problem for anyone but yourself. Praying just makes you FEEL like you are doing something so you don’t actually have to DO ANYTHING and you can live with yourself!!! Stop praying and donate your time and money to solving these problems! Get out and do something for someone in need!!! Everyody should be working for birth control in these countries so they can actually pull themselves up out of this crushing poverty. What good does it do to have babies just to watch them die terrible terrible deaths? It saps the mother’s strength and fills their lives with horrific dread and abject misery and they can’t stop it themselves without education and lots of help from those of us who know a better life can be had. Find an education program that helps these people and support it. That’s really God’s work, like Mother Theresa said, and you will actually earn your good night’s sleep.
February 11th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
If things were as simple as giving everyone birth control, then the entire world would be running along smoothly. *You’re* the one that needs to wake up and see that problems like this – famines, civil wars, ethnic cleansings – are all caused by a mixture of factors that aren’t that easy to separate.
Yes, birth control is one option, but it does no good to throw money and aid into a system that is so corrupt that the funds and resources rarely even make it to the people that need them the most. Oftentimes, these food supplies and medicines are stolen as soon as the trucks leave because the raiders can get a great price for them on the black market, and that’s IF the medicine donated is even within the expiration date.
Do you really think anyone’s actually going to give everyone birth control when they won’t even spend the 29 cents a dose for malaria vaccines?
Not everyone can just pack up and go overseas, but you can start at home by writing to your congressmen and raising awareness for causes like these. I didn’t mean to discourage anyone by what I said up there, but you also have to face reality when dealing with situations like these. It’s not an easy road to travel, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying it.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:17 am
I dont know what to say: This picture is a full and complete picture of today world. We produce GUNS, TANKS, AIRCRAFTS and BOMB to destroy each other and in this fight children are under more threat and risk. I dont know how to start but I REGUOLARY pay donation but I am not sure these type of people receive them. I know we have to have a big motion to help them more all aorind the world
May 25th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Sadly what you see is not a result of lack of food. It is the result of the child not having any money. I have spent my life and even now, continue to produce the food required to feed the world. We produce enough, and every day in developed countries governments are paying farmers such as myself to reduce and even destroy food produced due to overproduction. I have done my part to insure that what you see in the photo does not happen. The photographer who took the photo also had done his part to inform all of us that this is happening. The question remaining now is who has not done their part.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:47 am
haaayy.. i can’t imagine.
September 5th, 2008 at 2:29 am
I hear he didnt do anything to help the child. He left the child there to die after taking the picture. Someone like that does not deserve the award that he recieved. It is probably part of the reason he committed suicide.
October 7th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
how so sad to see this pic
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I too had tears after seeing this picture and reading caption….My question is ‘why didn’t the photographer do anything???’ That must have been why he felt so depressed that he died. I guess the world should turn to God now..he’ll be our refuge in times like this!!!
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:07 am
this is so tragic. kevin carter produced a piece of work that has effected us all and made us aware. and i think that is the most amazing thing.
June 25th, 2009 at 12:52 am
To mimi, what could he have done? scare the vulture away, carry the child to the food line, while a hundred other vultures tore into the the flesh of another hundred dying children??? his job was to report, to shoot, not to become Angelina Jolie. It’s so annoying when I read this stuff “why didn’t he do something”? He wasn’t there to save anyone, get that through your heads already, then what?? adopt him and bring him home? oh please, bleeding hearts unite! you make me sick.
August 1st, 2009 at 6:02 am
“his job was to report”….”He wasn’t there to save anyone”…..what the hell….Kendo are you serious?
His job has nothing to do with it…actually…his job was probably almost done as soon as he took the photos….and his reason for being there has also nothing to do with helping another human…there is no excuse for not helping somebody when you have the means to do so…even if it might not be enough.
A job…seriously???
Reasoning like yours contribute to make this word sick…not the bleeding hearts.
Ps. I actually do not know whether the man helped the child or not…but I simply do not know what could have been more important then giving the child some water and a meal…at least that…if nothing more.
March 12th, 2010 at 2:01 am
it is said that we are the most evolved creatures on earth. but are we? instead of trying to find harmony, all we seek is war. I’m 18, i don’t see smiles, i don’t see joy, i see greed and hate. it’s like we are barbarians. i think.it’s time to do something about. it’s time for the new generation to speak up. we should try to save the world, not destroy it.
April 8th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
When i was in class and we were studying Boal’s News Paper Theatre, a friend pulled out his lap top and showed us this picture. Really i asked my self ” What is the meaning of Life?!!!!!!!”
I am so sorry to hear that the photographer committed suicide, but i would aks him in which distance was he? and how did he feel when he left that child in the “LION’S TEETH”.
I LIVE IN UGANDA-NIHGBORING SUDAN WHERE THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN. I DO HAVE A PLAN OF PUTTING UP A BIG FARM AND SUPPLY THE PRODUCTS TO THE SUFFERING CHILDREN AND MOTHERS IN AFRICA.
BUT I WHANT TO DELIVER THEM MY SELF, BECAUSE I LOST TRUST IN AFRICAN POLTICAL AND SOME CHARITABLE LEADERS AND ORGANISATIONS.
GOD HELP ME TO FULLFIL THIS!!
May 20th, 2010 at 1:44 am
Hie Dan im Bilal from singapore. I express my sadness to poor kids and people in your and other countries. I believe there is something we can do to help them. Dont talk abt education. Basic needs are not even met. Since you live there, are there any proposal you can suggest. I want to help.
May 20th, 2010 at 9:31 am
Ssebakijje Dan, you have a noble and meaningful ambition. The world needs more people like you. May God grant you everything you need to fulfill the plan.
May 22nd, 2010 at 1:47 am
@Mina, so you want the man to just give the child a meal and some water — just that is all you ask, you say. Why? So he can prolong this child’s suffering and put off the child’s death maybe one day? Really, think about these things critically before you say them. I’m not saying no one should help the starving children, but someone above compared praying to making yourself feel like you’re doing something useful when you’re not. In my eyes, giving this child one meal is exactly that; nothing useful is accomplished and I truly think it would just be cruel to prolong the child’s suffering.
May 22nd, 2010 at 3:32 am
Sad thing is that when someone is at that point there is no helping them. She was to far gone to help her.
May 24th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
Many people here have questioned why he didnt save the child. I have read previously that for infection/quarantine reasons he was not allowed any closer. And despite the pic looking close up I believe he was further away than you think. Tragedy all round but certainly we cannot blame the photographer
June 5th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
This is in regard to ‘nana’s’ post…As far as prayer is concerned…it is a necessity in this world! Jesus does answer prayer. He has answered many of mine when I was in desperate need. I can not look at this picture and just view it as a starving child needing food and about to be eaten by a bird…but instead, I see if from a mother’s heart. I can’t imagine looking at this baby and not picking the child up and carrying it to some food and water. It’s no wonder the photographer killed himself. Jesus said, ‘whatever you do unto the least of these, you have done unto Me.’ Regardless of quarantine reasons I think the right thing to do would be to pick the child up and carry him to get food and water and on the way PRAY that God would heal the child and protect you from any disease. WOW, God would have looked down and saw your act of love and would have smiled on you…who better to smile on you? Maybe, the reason why the photographer killed himself was because he was the hand God was going to use to send a powerful message to the world about famine and poverty and the photographer used it for selfish reason and quilt overcame him. What would have been cool is if the photographer would have taken this picture and then picked the child up and carried him to the food…then took the picture of him and the child while the child was eating. Then continued to help the child through out the years and took photos of his life as he grew up…now that’s worth a Pulitzer prize and would have touched many lives!
June 23rd, 2010 at 3:40 am
We can all sit and present our particular feelings and beliefs about this picture, God, what Carter could/should have done. As we view it on our computers, perhaps we should stop and think about that child and the many others in similar situations. Carter made an excuse and used a code of ethics to get around a moral obligation to reach out and show the simplest of compassion. By some of the logic in these posts, Carter was justified because if it is not in our “job description” then we need not do it. Carter could have taken the picture, conveyed the power and desparation of the situation AND helped that child. It starts with one. That child might have lived to become a charismatic and moving voice of change. Instead he or she died because of a code of ethics. Likely Carter knew this and this image with the many other horrific ones he saw likely pushed him over the edge. We ALL make these types of excuses, and yes I include myslef in that ALL and tus I cannot condemn Carter, but rather feel the saem sorrow that he likley felt for not doing a simple act that could change a life.
We all need to give of our time, our money, our thoughts, prayers and anything else we have that can help change not just that situation but those closer to home as well. Telling the world of problems through a camera lens or giving money only does so much. Human acts of compassion can change lives …it comes through the heart. When you need help, like this child did, hope for compassion from someone, anyone, not money or a pulitzer prize winning photographer.
September 1st, 2010 at 12:34 am
Wow, I remember seeing this picture in a religion lesson in school… I felt so bad the whole day
((((
I can’t believe this, it’s out of my mind… I get tears in my eyes and my heart hurts because of stuff like this, and even though all the money we give, it still doesnt help
It makes me realize that i HATE the world sometimes…
This is one of my favourite images ever, and I understand the photographer… We live in another world, a censured world where we aren’t used to see people like this…
- Lé Vici
November 7th, 2010 at 2:05 am
as long as we live in monetary (money rules) society around the world, this picture will be truth and life for so many people, not just children. However, i would like to add that god favors his children above all else, so bill gates wont make it into heaven before that child does (regardless of his few thousand bucks donations each year, compared to his vast wealth), which in a way is comforting to know. dont get me wrong, i too am sad about this picture, but i do not grieve as much about it as others would. people can think of me what they want, and still my view will not change. regarding carters so called “ethics”, i will have to remind everyone that sickness (malaria, aids etc) was as real threats as day and night is inevidable in that region, he was forbidden to touch the child. So in his defence, there was nothing he could do, which in turn tore him apart inside resulting in his untimely death. Carter did have compassion, more than you know, and that compassion is what you see on the photo. He could not do anything himself, but what the message implies in that picture is that we should all do something. Giving funds for just any organisation isnt the answer, most of them pocket 80% on “administration” and your 100 dollars donation becomes 20 bucks as soon as you deposit it. i myself am poor, but if i actually had money enough to spend, i would not donate, i would ACT! I would go there and make sure that every penny i spent was reaching the place i wanted it to go! i’m talking building schools, nursing homes for these children, food for instance, if you purchase the supplies directly from a producer in say china for rice or something, you can feed much more than a village for the same money the so called agencies uses your 100 dollars to feed 5 children. the world is screwed up in a way we can’t even imagine. you give away 100 bucks and feel better about yourself, but its hollow, has no meaning, the money ends up in the pockets of wealthy fat bastards driving around bentleys and ferraris.. still feel good ? projects like doctors without borders and such are the only true things worth investing in. they make a difference! If you ask me, Carter should have gotten a Nobel prize for that picture since it makes us all think twice and think about how fortunate we are. so next time you use your iphone, remember that the little thing costs as much as feeding 25 children for a week, if not more! so think about that next time you answer your fancy cell phone. The place to start change is not with the people feeling for this child, it starts with the governments who donate billions to such countries where the money is spent on ammo and weaponry for waging wars against its own people. Africa is still the number one continent this is happening, and it wont stop until the rest of the world realises the fault in a government and stop this silly “donation”. the donations should go to organizations who want to make a difference and not the government of the countries involved. The only BIG problem is, there is money in war, all the weapons and munitions and stuff purchased by these governments is like gold and diamonds to them, truth be told, governments is the citizens worst enemy in a case like this. You may love your country more than your spouse, but do you really, honestly believe that theyre not getting something in return for the so-called “donation”? All the BS about supermodels wishing for world peace, not likely going to happen EVER in our lifetime. Not the way things are now, there is too much control to keep money as the only power in this world! and too many rich people want to keep their money, and as long as they keep pouring millions into campaigns and elections and personal pockets… its never gonna change. we have the resources and ability to feed the entire world each day 4 times over, but as long as everything costs money, some will suffer for it. sad but true.
November 23rd, 2010 at 5:28 am
“someone”, every single thing you wrote is true. But the fact is that no matter how rich or poor you are, you can still make the journey to these places to do what we all MUST. Everyone is unique: some do not pity the child at all, and I do not hold this against them, and some feel so wrong that they make a genuine change, which I cherish. I will not speak ill of a dead man, but I will share my opinion: If I had been in this photographer’s place, I would have helped the child to a safer place. I would have put my fears of catching AIDS of Malaria or another disease and picked the child up. Even if would not have the means to feed and rehydrate him, I would do what I could to make him comfortable in his remaining time. I would have lost myself, as this poor man did, and likely would have followed his lead. I pity him greatly, for he must have felt so powerless, so hurt, so wounded that he could not see his own potential. If he hadn’t been in so much pain, he could have gone back to Sudan and done what he could. He felt something that most people would be lucky to feel at least once in their lives. God Bless Kevin Carter, and may He lay his soul to rest. May he enter Heaven, and feast with this child. May God forgive him his pain, and my God inspire us all to take action. Money, and the entire society it is built upon, is superficial. I’m willing to bet that if you showed this to a supermodel, it would stir the same feelings in her that we all seem to be feeling. If you showed it to a politician, as disgusting as they are, (s)he would be furious. If even just one person could be there, to urge the supermodel or politician to take action with their own hands, it would mean more to their supporters than all the false promises in the world.
Are you listening, Washington?
But then again, the whole of our existence in the U.S. has become so morally and sensibly fucked, that truth and common sense are as rare as those individuals who will look upon this picture and go to Sudan to actually DO SOMETHING. All I feel from this picture is a desire to help. One day, hopefully soon, I will act on that feeling, on my own. I WILL remember this picture each time I bite into my Big Mac, and take a sip of my coke.
God help us all, assuming we’re still worth it.
November 23rd, 2010 at 5:35 am
I also wanted to clarify one thing: when I said that the politician would be furious, I meant that he would be furious at the image he was seeing, not that he would be furious that you would even show it to him. Also, instead of “urging” the politician or supermodel, a more proper word would be to “direct” them.
Thank you
October 23rd, 2011 at 4:39 am
Feared infection? Yet killed himself? so he decided to leave to the vulture who doesnt fear getting infected!!!!