Kevin Carter’s controversial image

Kevin Carter’s photograph above is described as “iconic” as this picture of this starving Sudanese girl and the vulture was published in the New York Times in 1993. The stillness of the bird and the collapsed girl in this image made for a very cold and somewhat sad image, as some think it’s a matter of time before the girl is eaten by the vulture as she is so fragile. In my opinion this image can be seen as haunting and shows the real struggles that people in third world countries experiences. Carter could have aimed to spread awareness for starvation across the world when this image was published, having a good intention behind the image. On the other hand, this image looks a lot more controversial then it actually is, as this is just a snapshot in time, only showing half a story, the parents and food bank were in the background ready to help the little girl.

There was a sad truth about Carter shocked many as his controversial image was linked to his death, which was unfortunately a suicide as he was largely blamed for not helping this child as the public was not aware of the the surroundings as the fact that this child was completely fine despite collapsing. This story highlights the real effects photography sadly has on peoples lives as unfortunately Kevin’s family and friends now have to live with the consequences of this photograph being published too.