[A vulture appearing to stalk a starving child in the southern Sudanese hamlet of Ayod, (March 1993)]
A close friend told me a story yesterday...
" Have you seen the starving of Sudan? YOu reminded me of that when you mentioned dinner...
it's really sad to see that...DO YOU KNOW WHO CAPTURED THAT PHOTO?"
...The story behind this photo is miserable - the photographer actually commited suicide. he was blamed for shooting this photo without saving the girl, he actually left the girl alone after that...he felt too much pressure and just commited suicide... (omg)
He had travelled around to explore the place, to descry the people's life in Sudan. Then there came a day, he was so (so, so~) disappointed seeing how poor the people were and how hard their life was, he rested under a tree... suddenly, he heard a child's cries.He turned and spotted the starving girl, and a hungry vulture at the background. To get the best angle for the photography (& bla.bla..bla...), he waited for 20 minutes - just to get the best photo (!) Finally, he got it - captured the photo, and left... He sent this photo to the New York Times. The photo was published, and everyone was stunned...
...the world started paying attention on Sudan, many donated money. The photo actually contributed alot, but not long after that, several people called to the New York Times to ask, "what happened to the girl after that?", and when they got to know that the photographer didn't save the girl (it was later known that the girl was crawling to a food distribution center about 1 km away..) , the whole world blamed him - the whole world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERYONE! he got some (don't know what) great awards and prizes with the photo but he was also blamed. He couldn't stand the pressure, and he committed suicide.
(I was stunned.)
the conversation continues...
"...but in my opinion - How many people could he save? He was just a photographer, and eventually, the photo contributed a lot..."
i said, "i understand his position, but the world hoped that he would have at least took this ONE gurl away for shelter and food......(instead of ignoring the fact that the vulture might pounce on her after that..instead of leaving her to die.)"
"This is very debateable."
"yea.."
"..haiz"
1 comment:
It's kinda subjective. On whether he's wrong or not. I mean... i'm still kinda shocked after reading the post. But like you said, it's really debatable. He should have save that ONE life. Then again, i don't think the blame should have been thrown at him.
I mean... still kinda uncomposed now. What i'm trying to say is that, i think there are other party involved in this thing. Like the child's parent's for instance.
What i'm trying to say is that the blame shouldn't be thrown on the photographer. And no, i don't think he should have left the child there either.
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