Kevin Carter took this photo in 1993 of a starving Sudanese boy (who was initially thought to have been a girl hence the photo name), who collapsed on his way to a feeding centre whilst a vulture waited nearby. This photo sparked controversy because people wondered why he had taken the photo instead of helping the boy. However just out of the frame was the child’s parents and the feeding centre. Carter took them out of the frame in order to to draw more public compassion.

The angle the photo is taken at presents the vulture as superior and makes the viewer anticipate what will happen next. The fact there is no second frame adds to this, which is why it is such a well-recognized image. The contrast between the kneeling child and the towering vulture represents how different the life of these photographers are compared to the people they are taking photos of.

Carter was working in a time when photojournalists were told not to touch famine victims for fear of spreading disease. He estimated that there were twenty people per hour dying at the food centre. The child was not unique. However, he wanted to photograph the child in a way that would cause controversy to bring attention to the amount of young famine victims, not just in Sudan, but around the world.