Powerful Image - Kevin Carter's 'Child with a Vulture' photo

Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of a starving Sudanese child with a vulture in the background, presumably waiting to prey on the child, is a meaningful image to me.  Carter’s photo created awareness of the humanitarian crisis in the famine-stricken nation, but the photographer was still criticized by many for failing to help the child.  To me, it’s impossible to see this image without becoming Kevin Carter and wondering about the ethical dilemma he was faced with.  This is the quintessential image of the debate over the code of ethics in journalism.  At what point do I put down my camera and help an individual?  Was this little girl sacrificed for the “greater good” in an effort to show the rest of the world what was happening in Sudan?  Didn’t Carter do the world a favor by creating such a powerful image?  Kevin Carter committed suicide shortly after winning the Pulitzer Prize for this image.  His suicide note indicated that the nature of his work contributed largely to his depression. 

-Krissie

Image:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kevin-Carter-Child-Vulture-Sudan.jpg

For more info:

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/29/world/kevin-carter-a-pulitzer-winner-for-sudan-photo-is-dead-at-33.html

http://www.kevincarterfilm.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Carter