This is No Joke

[Spark]

Have a close look at both the photographs & read the messages below them.. its our moral duty to be concerned...towards humanity; take care...





This was found in his diary ,

Dear God, I promise I will never waste my food no matter how bad it can taste and how full I may be. I pray that He will protect this little boy, guide and deliver him away from his misery. I pray that we will be more sensitive towards the world around us and not be blinded by our own selfish nature and interests.

I hope this picture will always serve as a reminder to us that how fortunate we are and that we must never ever take things for granted.

[TwoTonTony]

Wow,

that is terrible.....We bitch and complain and that poor little guy is scouring the earth for srumbs......This should not happen to any human being, but we are naive to it since it happens all over the world....We do not know what real poor is.....We have so called ghettos, but those people have vcr's play stations and brand name clothes.....IMHO many of those folks choose that life in 1 way or another.....job may be beneath them, trying to beat the system and there are others who are down on their luck or disabled, where this kid ha no choice....

[gbell]

Umm, did the dumbass photographer ever think of helping in some way as opposed to capitilizing off it's shock value?

[ogarza]

Umm, did the dumbass photographer ever think of helping in some way as opposed to capitilizing off it's shock value?

Exactly what I was about to say...drop the fucking camera and carry the poor child the kilometer to get some food...

[Kaptain]

so you think you got it bad, and got fuvked by the "Fixed" games huh.........My heart bleeds for you......

Make a good color copy of this, and next time you're feeling sorry for yourself, casue the gambling Gods, took a sure winner from ya, and Fixed the friggin game, and you lost $100,

look at this, and imagine what a $100 could have done for this poor child..........

yeh, we got it rough all right.......

Kapt

[tkim11]

fuck...

[KazDog]

It is easy to criticise the photographer for not doing something about this horrific incident. He did chase the vulture away. The girl did resume her trek to the feeding center. No one knows if she lived.

I too am a photographer like Kevin Carter. Under the same circumstance, I would have picked her up and carried her to the feeding station. Carter had no doubt seen thousands of children just like this one. You can't save them all.

For his moving photograph, and bringing to light the atrocities of starvation in Africa and affecting many people to be upset enough to do something about it, he took his own life due to depression, in Africa where he made the Pulitzer Prize winning photo.

Why was he given a Pulitzer? Because as a photojournalist, you are taught to make photos that move people and change the way people think about the world around them. Did this photo move you? My guess is it did. Did it change the way you think about what YOU have and realize how fortunate you are? My guess is it did. For that, it did it's job and in a powerful way.....

The quote below came from a website about Kevin Carter. Read it and ask yourself, before you jump on the photographer, what you've done to bring help to starving chidren. My guess is that his photo has literally brought millions, yes I said millions of dollars in relief to the starving children in Africa......That's something to think about!



"What are the odds the little girl is alive today? Not very high, I'd say. If she is alive, what quality of life is she likely to have? She almost certainly has permanent damage from her period of starvation during crucial development, both before and after birth. It is easy to criticise Kevin Carter. Why? Because he took a photo of one starving child among thousands? Let those who send all their spare cash to the needy cast the first stone"...

KAZ

[gbell]

I agree it is a powerful photo, and most will reflect on how truly blessed they are. But some thought must be put into the question of "why" things are like that. Not from a lack of international aid, but from a corrupt gov't in Africa who syphons (sp) most of the international aid monies. The uproar should be more about that in my opinion. The US, along with other countries, donate a shitload of money that is just pissed away and wasted. You think the mre's that were dropped in the desert for the Afghan's could have gone to better use in Africa? How much money must the US pledge for Aids in Africa before they take care of their own. I grow closer to the idea of isolationism with each passing day. There is always more then one side to a story or photo.

[KazDog]

My point is....You don't kill the messanger. And you don't turn your back on things that aren't right. Your comment was.....

"did the dumbass photographer ever think of helping in some way as opposed to capitilizing off it's shock value?"

I was responding to your comment about the photographer and the others who made a similiar comment....My guess is, that his photo helped a hell of a lot more than you suggest......And just because what the gov't in Africa is doing isn't right, doesn't mean we should stop from trying to figure out a solution to the problem......This photo obviously made you and others more aware today of what is happening there. And it was taken 12 years ago.....And you are right, there IS more than one side to a story or photo just like in this case....

[Udog]

No excuse for the photographer's behavior.
If he hadn't taken that picture, someone else would have taken a very similar one. Perhaps someone with enough human decency about them to have saved that little girl would have taken it.
That photographer's behavior reminds me of the modern Americans who absolutely refuse to join up and aid in the defense of their children's lives and homes!
He did not commit suicide out of depression. He did it out of guilt and he deserved it.

[Spark]

I really had second thoughts before I made this thread ... it truly bothers me ...

Great points Kaz ...

[Udog]

I think I might have been too harsh a little while ago.

I said that Kevin Carter deserved what he got and I don't know that. I'd never heard of Kevin Carter before last night and have no idea about his character.

I viewed this picture last night and was thinking about it all night and this morning. So, you're exactly right, Kaz, about the picture provoking a lot of awareness and thought.

I just cannot understand, for the life of me, how anyone could turn their back on suffering like that and just walk away for any reason.

[KazDog]

From what I've read, he literally saw thousands of chidren who were too sick to help. Which do you help? If you help this one and not all the others does that still mean you turned your back? He went there to document the atrocities and bring some light to the horrible situation to the world. There are just too many to help. So he did what he could. Make a photo that would help through the eyes and hearts of millions. Unless you walk in his shoes, you really shouldn't pass judgement on him. Carter photographed murders and starvation and had seen a good share of death throughout his life. I wonder how many would have suffered the same fate as him.....Doing what he did for a paltry living is not easy by any stretch of the imagination.....Trust me about that.

KAZ

[BettorsChat]

Isn't the progress over there getting better though? At least that was my impression that things arent quite as bad as they were when that picture was taken. I do know that they still have a lot of problems with lack of food, diseases etc.

I do know that some Country or Countries were giving them and teaching them about birth control methods as they weren't used over there prior to the help.

Anyone know if things have gotten better for a fact since the picture? I would think they have.

[KazDog]

I do believe they have Monte....There were quite a few journalists there at the time making powerful images and stories that were published. I believe they all had an effect. And I believe that part of the military action we took when Clinton was in office, helped as well. Those all came about after the stories and photos had been published. The Boston Globe did a similiar piece just before Carter did his.....