The vulture, the child and Carter

By Faiza Stone

For any journalist whose life is in danger, public interest would be the most correct option to opt for if you ask me. The aim would be to secretly tape them off or get them on camera then disappear without making a scene.

Everyone is so concerned about the vulture and the child. I am rather concerned about Carter. What about Carter, what was going through his mind when he took that picture is what the big question should have been.

Not only could the vulture have eaten the child, but it could have went straight for Carter as well. Both Carter and the girl’s lives were in danger at that specific time.

As part of the ethics of photography, Carter did the correct thing by not interfering in the given situation.

Any responsible journalist would know that he or she is no saint but just another human being. That is why when in a dangerous situation, you would always dark first to save your own life first then slowly get up to peak if you are safe. If are safe you would then immediately start doing your job as a journalist.

The point of being a photojournalist is to take document reality as it happens without your involvement or participation. You are there to bring light to situations as well as to raise awareness where words cannot depict what is really going on. In other words, you are a photographer as a reporter- your photographs should tell a story without the use of words. They should allow your audience to come up with their own conclusions.

The most important thing that separates photojournalism form other forms of photography is trust. The audience must be able to trust that the image they see is a true representation of what is happening. If Kevin Carter had interfered in the scene by moving the little girl to a safe place, the world would not have known how bad the economic situation of Sudan was at that time.

In essence, this particular photograph actually illustrates Carter’s braveness and the level of courage he had as a journalist. Another journalist would have been scared to take the picture and we would not have seen it.

After being heavily criticized for the photograph, Carter committed suicide. Is that not enough prove of how bad he felt for taking the photograph? Carter did his job as a responsible journalist and for that, I think he truly deserved a noble prize.

“The pain of life overrides the joy to the point that joy does not exist,” Kevin Carter.

Please note that this is an Opinion piece