The photographer of the picture above was awarded Pulitzer Prize in May 1994. It was taken in 1994 during Sudan Famine. The photographer Kevin Carter committed suicide 3 month later due to depression. That’s some fact about the picture, but there are still so many ironic stories behind this. First, as we can see straight away from the picture the child is starved to death and his death is waiting by the vulture so the bird can eat it. This picture is clearly show to us how hard to life in Sudan at that time, food maybe is just like a gold which is very hard to get and very expensive too. The environment that surrounding the boy and the vulture is so poor it just makes the situation at that time is closely related to hell, it reminds me a lot how lucky I’m now and I pray to god I wish no one will suffering that kind of sorrow anymore. The dying child maybe didn’t eat any food for a few days because he was looked very tiny even his skull appears in his stomach, very horrible.
Second ironic story behind this picture is, I wonder why Kevin Carter just captured the picture, after that he ignored the boy and then Kevin just left him with the vulture, strange isn’t it?. I’ve read some article related to the picture, and in every single article that I read, they said that they don’t know what happen to the boy after the picture was captured in 1994, is the boy survive?. Is anybody came to help the boy and deliver him to the nearest United Nation food camp which located only a kilometer away, after Kevin just ignored and left the boy alone with the vulture?. Or maybe the vulture was ate the boy after Kevin left, so it’s perfectly clear why no one of us don’t know what happen to the boy because he no longer in our world since the picture was took. I hope no one of us will do what Kevin did in 1994, maybe at that time Kevin was panic therefore he can’t thought clearly. The United Nations Food Camp is located only a kilometer away from the spot where Kevin captured the picture, if I were him I will pick the boy to the United Nations food camps very immediately after I did my photographic job. I hope the boy is the last victim of the Pulitzer Prize freak!
The Third ironic story behind this picture is, Kevin Carter the photographer committed suicide 3 months after he took the picture because of depression. In his suicide note he said he was depressed, without phone...money for tent...money for child support...money for debts...money!!!!!" He also said he was haunted by vivid memories of killings, corpses, anger, pain, starving or wounded children, and trigger-happy madmen. That kind of psychological illness is simply won’t happen if Kevin Carter helping the child at that time. In my opinion, the story behind this picture is the most tragic story that I ever know so far in my life. Because of his own foolish Kevin Carter died in vain, so do the Pulitzer Prize that he won in 1994, the real winner will never let a child starved to die and eaten by vulture. As we know that Kevin Carter was died by suicide, so the boy wasn’t his only victim, therefore Kelvin Carter is suppose to known as a killer not a winner.
