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| Vulture Stalking a Child - Kevin Carter |
The Iconic photography I chose is the ‘Vulture Stalking a Child’ taken by the photographer Kevin Carter in March 1993. Kevin Carter traveled to Southern Sudan, more specifically to the village of Ayod, to register the famine-stricken conditions of those people. Soon as he got there he started snapping photos, when he noticed a tiny girl struggling to make her way to the feeding center. She stopped to rest as she was about to collapse, then he approached her to take a picture when a vulture landed behind her. Carter said he waited for about twenty minutes hoping for the vulture to spread its wings, but it didn’t happen. After taken the picture, he chased the bird away, but didn’t help the girl because journalists weren’t supposed to touch the dwellers to prevent the transmission of diseases. The picture was then published in The New York Times and caused a wide reaction on the audience for being such a strong picture; hundreds of people contacted the newspaper overnight wanting to know what happened to the girl and if Carter assisted her. The photo became quite controversial then, and Kevin Carter came under strong criticism for not helping her. In 1994, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his disturbing photograph, however Carter had been feeling very bad for all that and some personal problems, committing suicide a few months later.
This photograph is very important
for its historical evidence and context. It represents not only the demise of a
little child, but also the demise of hundreds in a Country. It is an evidence
of the five years of Sudan's decade-long civil war and its effect. It is a
proof of the high rates of death because of starvation - There were at least
twenty deaths per 10,000 population in February and March 1993. Analyzing this
picture, in its formal quality, we can see that Carter was able to angle the
photo in a way to appear that the vulture was only few centimeters away from
the child when actually it was much further away. He used natural light and there’s
not much contrast in it when talking about colors. Cater positioned the
elements in the picture using the rule of the thirds. The fact that the vulture
comes from the back and somehow almost observing the child from the third top
of the image enhances the feeling for the audience to think the vulture is
going to attack the child in any minute. The title of the picture is also quite
broad, not making reference to any particular country or place. Letting it open
to include and represent not only the people from Sudan, but also all the
people who are going through starvation and poverty all around the globe. The
fact that the title is broad also helps to make more people to sympathize with
the child and her situation. The photography also serves as a reflection to the
audience. It makes people to stop to think about their lives’ conditions, and
that they should be grateful for what they have because there are people who
can’t have not even one fourth of what they’ve got. It also works to increase
awareness of the people from rich countries to remember those ones who need
their help. It makes the audience to feel empathy for them. This image is a
reflection of the injustices in this world.
I believe this image is so Iconic
because of the immediate impact it gives to the person who is looking at it. The
content is very strong. The child is basically compared to a piece of carrion,
which the vulture is just awaiting for her death and then he will attack and
eat her. It shocked the western world because this is far to be the conditions
of an ordinary child. It’s inhuman. The appearance of the emaciated child
nearly only bones, lying on the floor, struggling to live, is heartbreaking.
Moreover, the polemic fact that Kevin Carter waited twenty minutes to chase the
bird away, prioritizing then the search of the perfect picture over the well
being of the little girl made the audience to feel shocked, which drove even
more attention to the picture. Therefore, This picture wasn’t ‘just’ another
one of a starving person from Africa, it went beyond that showing the
degradation of a human being, compared to a piece of carrion, forgotten by
society.
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