War is Hell

We were recently discussing in class the traumatic effects of war and the famine it causes on the photographers that capture the images for the world to see. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is one of the problems that photojournalists face upon their return from the warzone, but guilt can also be a killer.

One of the other issues we were debating in class was the photographer’s responsibility to “get the shot” vs. his/her obligations as a human being. For example, do you as a journalist; offer your food rations to the starving children lying in front of you, or do you concentrate on taking the most impactful shot you can with the hopes effecting the change needed in the world to feed all of the children? It is an impossible choice.

When I was looking into this issue, I found a photograph and a story that I remembered. I remembered this photo because I recall the debate I had over it; it was essentially the same debate we had in class over a photographer’s responsibilities.

This is the photo (Warning, disturbing image) that photojournalist Kevin Carter took in 1993 of a starving child in Sudan being approached by a vulture.

This photograph caused a firestorm of criticism of the photographer and a pile of mail at the New York Times as to the fate of the child.

Carter won the Pulitzer Prize for this photo, but after one year the guilt racking the soul of Kevin Carter proved to be too much and hetook his own life.