Kevin Carter's Photography: The Ethics Of Film Photography

Photography occupies a special link between physical reality and creative intent; the art of the discipline lies in artfully arranging a scene to convey an idea or emotion, or judging a moment in time as worthy of capture. As Derrick Price notes in Photography: A Critical Introduction, “photojournalism and documentary are linked by the fact that they claim to have a special relationship to the real” and purport to depict reality accurately for informative purposes, although they often contain artistic elements such as symbolism that provide another layer of meaning beyond the purely visual and educational. The fusion of art and journalism calls into question the ethics of the documentary photographer, such as whether editing a picture or arranging

Also, one must consider whether a documentary photograph is truly accurate if it is taken from the perspective of an outsider to the subjects’ culture, and how the tension between ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ cultural roles influence the context of the image. Kevin Carter’s photograph of a vulture stalking a starving Sudanese girl won the Pulitzer Prize in feature photography in 1994.1 The stark image depicts an emaciated small child in the foreground, her face hidden as she crouches into a ball, her ribs protruding and her limbs impossibly thin. She wears nothing except a thick white necklace and bracelet, which serve to humanize her in the eyes of the viewer. Her head touches the barren ground in exhaustion and her posture indicates utter desperation. She does not acknowledge the presence of

There is a sense of role reversal between the human and the animal as the vulture projects a calm, patient demeanor and the child seems overwhelmed by primitive survival instincts and raw, pure emotions. The child’s jewelry serves to provide poignancy—that even in the most desperate situation, she has maintained trappings of human society; the adornments jarringly remind the viewer of her relateable humanity and contribute to her image as a archetype of the innocent child bearing the weight of the injustice of the world.3 The image of the child blends tropes of the adult and childlike—she despondently seeks basic human needs, confronting crushing responsibilites that most viewers associate with adulthood, and her extended arm seems to beat the ground in despair, questioning why she deserves her suffering. She is curled in a fetal crouch, reminding viewers of her young age, and yet her conveyed desire to return to an easier time seems universally human. Her position of passive surrender mirrors the inner human temptation to give in to desperation during times of anguish. The vulture ironically stands where we would expect a parent or adult figure approaching to comfort and provide for her; however, the creature seems to mirror the archetypal image of hooded Death advancing3, suggesting that her only relief from suffering will be in