Photos, behind each of which there is a terrible story (15 photos). Why Kevin Carter received the Pulitzer Prize Life of Kevin Carter after the prize and his death
Many believe that a photographer should not only be a professional in his profession, photography itself. He must also be a good artist, a good psychologist. This is often talked about. Today we will tell you a story about one very unusual photographer. About a photographer who managed to influence this world...
Kevin Carter was born and lived in South Africa. He worked as a photojournalist. This job suited him. He was quite pleased with himself and his work. Carter had no desire for fame, and work took up almost all of his time. Noticing and capturing on film various moments of life was his favorite thing. Kevin Carter's works were actively purchased by various publications. Complex and interesting job the photojournalist was completely absorbed by him. Business trips to various countries have become commonplace for Kevin.
In 1993, Carter's next business trip was Sudan, where a terrible famine was raging at that time. The photojournalist needed to make a report about this disaster of the African people.
That day I was very tired, I literally collapsed from powerlessness. Photographing people dying in African villages was incredibly difficult, both physically and mentally. As the sun set on the horizon, Kevin saw a terrible scene on the outskirts of the village: a little girl was lying dying of hunger right in the field. The child lay on the bare ground, fingering the grass with almost exhausted hands, and sobbed barely audibly. And about three meters from this girl, a huge eagle vulture was leisurely strolling. It looks like he was just waiting for prey, waiting for the girl to die. Kevin Carter, of course, photographed this terrible scene. And, of course, he drove away the terrible bird of prey.
Soon, already at home, Kevin realized that this photograph had become his best job throughout his entire career. The photo was also appreciated in the New York Times. The photograph of a dying girl and an eagle awaiting her death greatly stirred the public around the world. Very soon, this work by a South African photojournalist became a symbol of hunger in Sudan, and broke all possible records for its popularity. Kevin Carter's photo of a starving girl is still considered one of the most famous photographs in the world. It has become a classic of photojournalism. For its creation, Kevin received a Pulitzer Prize.
But... This story turned out to be by no means joyful. She did not become a competent implementation of the talent of a photojournalist from South Africa.
Very soon after this photo was made public, Kevin began receiving letters from all over the world. The photographer was asked: how did this story end, whether the girl captured in the photo was alive, what happened to her later and where she is now. Did Kevin help her... Then the wave of questions to the photographer was supported by newspapermen... And Kevin himself did not know how to answer all these questions. After all, then, on that ill-fated day, he was very tired of the many deaths around. And he left. He left without providing any assistance to the dying child.
Kevin Carter fulfilled his duty as a photojournalist. He clearly demonstrated his professionalism as a journalist. The famine in Sudan became known throughout the world, and this is the main thing in his service to society. It would seem that, as a professional, he did everything that was possible to do at that moment in the current situation. At first, Kevin himself thought so, thought that he had done everything he could. But others saw all this completely differently, in a completely different light.
Kevin Carter could not withstand such pressure from people. He soon realized that, while remaining a professional photojournalist at that time, he had not shown himself to be just an ordinary person. A talented photographer, a recognized master of photojournalism, and a Pulitzer Prize winner, voluntarily passed away.
The story of the life and death of Kevin Carter has given rise to speculation for many people in the arts. The public talked about her for a long time. This story gave a unique answer to the difficult question: “Is there a boundary between life and creativity, is it possible to separate real life man and his life in art? Kevin Carter has received top honors for his creations. But, at the same time, he lost the main thing - he lost the person in himself, he could no longer create sincerely and honestly. And this, you see, is the most important thing for creative person, for the creative person. After all, only a person whose conscience is clear can live normally and fruitfully.
We bring to your attention 15 photographs behind which real stories, which at one time horrified even the most experienced criminologists. A photograph that went down in history as “The Most Beautiful Suicide.” Evelyn McHale committed suicide by jumping from the Empire State Building. Nearby photographer Robert Wiles captured McHale's body falling onto the UN limousine. Before committing suicide, McHale left her fiancé. Her suicide note read: “He will be better off without me. I couldn’t be a good wife to anyone.” 
Regina Kay Walters. This photo of 14-year-old Regina Kay Walters was taken by serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades, who was later captured driving a truck with a torture chamber in its trailer. Before taking this photo, Rhodes cut off his victim's hair and forced her to wear a dress and heels before killing her in a barn in Illinois. 
Tyler Hadley. 17-year-old Tyler Hadley wanted to throw a party, but his parents were home, so he beat them both to death with a hammer. He hid the corpses, restored order and invited guests, while the bodies of his parents remained in the house. This photo was taken the night after the murder, when Tyler confessed to his friend Max (left). 
Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Kevin Carter. South African photographer Kevin Carter worked in Sudan during the 1993 famine. The photo shows a starving child crawling towards a food distribution center while a vulture prowls nearby, waiting for an easy prey. Carter could not approach children due to the risk of infection. Three months after the Pulitzer Prize ceremony, 33-year-old Carter committed suicide, unable to bear the painful memories. 
Travis Alexander. The last photo of Travis Alexander taken by his ex-girlfriend Jodi Arias before his murder. She came to his house and while they were fooling around, she took several photographs of him. Travis' body was found in a bathroom five days later with 27 stab wounds, a slit throat and a bullet in the head. 
Cult of "Heaven's Gate". On March 26, 1997, 39 adherents of the Heaven's Gate cult committed suicide, believing that their souls would be taken to Comet Hale-Bopp by spaceship. The founder of the cult, Marshall Applewhite, convinced them that aliens would soon cleanse the Earth, so they must leave this world. 
Blanche Monnier. Blanche Monnier was held captive for 24 years in a room where she had to live among her own excrement. She was discovered in 1901 when someone pointed out her location to the police. A woman has not seen sunlight for 24 years. 
Reynaldo Dagsa. Philippine politician Reynaldo Dagza photographed his family during New Year's celebrations. His killer was also caught in the picture. He turned out to be a car thief, whom Dagsa had once put behind bars. 
"Peoples Temple" American preacher Jim Jones founded religious movement"Peoples Temple", which went down in history as the largest mass suicide. 918 cult adherents committed suicide by cyanide poisoning. 
Dean Corll. Dean Corll earned the nickname Lollipop for constantly handing out candy to neighborhood children. He was one of the most brutal serial killers in history. Between 1970 and 1973, Corll raped and murdered at least 28 boys. He had two accomplices, one of whom shot him. This photograph was found among his personal belongings. The boy from this photo was never identified, which leads to creepy thoughts that there were much more than 28 victims of the maniac. 
John Lennon and his killer Mark David Chapman. Chapman killed Lennon just hours after this photo was taken. When Chapman was asked why he did this, he replied: "I thought I would get his glory." 
Massacre at Columbine High School. This photo was taken two weeks before the Columbine High School massacre, when 12 students and one teacher were shot and killed. In the upper left corner you can see two schoolchildren simulating shooting at the camera. Many see this gesture as a terrible prophecy. 
Photo taken in gas chamber in Auschwitz, Poland. 
Terrorist attack in Omagh. This photo was taken minutes before the Omagh attack in Northern Ireland. The explosive device was planted in the red car you see in this photo. The bombing, carried out by the Authentic Irish Republican Army, killed 29 people. The father and son captured in this photo survived. 
Traveler Christopher McCandless. The last self-portrait taken by Christopher McCandless before he ventured into the wilderness of Alaska. Shortly after this photo was taken, hunters discovered McCandless's body in an abandoned bus. As it later turned out, the traveler was poisoned by the root of a poisonous plant.
Attention: Some photographs in this article are not recommended for viewing by sensitive people.
Kevin Carter became the target of widespread criticism when, on March 26, 1993, the New York Times published his photo of a Sudanese girl dying of hunger. Some of the newspaper's readers accused the author of the photograph of inhumanity and believed that he should have thrown the camera aside and rushed to the aid of the little girl. The controversy surrounding the photograph erupted with renewed vigor when Carter received the Pulitzer Prize for it a few months later. By the end of July 1994 he was gone.
Emotional detachment allowed Carter and other photojournalists to continue their work despite the many horrors they witnessed. The public reaction to the photo with the vulture became a punishment for this professional character trait. But time showed that Kevin was not as detached as he seemed: everything he experienced during the course of his work left an indelible imprint on him, he was deeply depressed by the atrocities taking place around him.
Carter grew up in South Africa during his childhood during apartheid. He decided to become a photojournalist because he felt the need to document the hostility not only between whites and blacks, but also between local ethnic groups.
Carter was among those rare journalists who boldly climbed into the very epicenter of events for best shot. One South African newspaper nicknamed them “the Bang-Bang Club.” From that time on, photographers began to call “crazy” all those who traveled to South African villages to cover the exorbitant cruelty taking place there.
In just a few years, Kevin had witnessed countless deaths from beatings, knives, bullets and the barbaric method of murder in which a tire doused with gasoline was placed around the victim's neck and set on fire.
Carter managed to capture the famous vulture shot on film during a business trip in Sudan. For several days he traveled through villages full of starving residents. All this time he was accompanied by a detachment of Sudanese soldiers in case of excessive importunity on his part. The photographs below show that even if he decided to help the unfortunate girl, the soldiers would have prevented him. The first photo was taken by Carter himself.
After numerous calls and letters from readers interested in the future fate of the girl, the New York Times took a rather unexpected step and published a note about what they knew about this matter. “The photographer reports that she found the strength to continue on her way after the vulture flew away. It is unknown whether she reached the humanitarian aid center.”
Many people find it difficult to understand how Carter and the other members of the Crazy Club continued their work day after day. What was happening around them was very depressing, and in Carter's case the oppressive atmosphere had a fatal effect. Taking cocaine and other drugs allowed him to cope with the horrors associated with his activities. He often poured his heart out to his friend Judith Matloff. According to her, he felt guilty for those people whom he could have saved when he photographed them at the moment of death. He began to sink into the depths of depression.
And then he was shot best friend and a friend from the Crazy Club - Ken Oosterbroek. Carter felt like he should have been in Ken's shoes, but he wasn't with the group that day because he was being interviewed about winning the Pulitzer Prize. That same month, Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa.
Carter, who had dedicated his life to exposing the evils of apartheid, did not know what to do next. Moreover, he thought that he had to justify the Pulitzer Prize that was awarded to him. Soon, overcome by terrible depression, he made a terrible mistake. Having gone to Mozambique to take pictures for Time magazine, on the return flight he left all his films on the plane - 16 reels that he shot there. They were lost forever. For Carter, this was the last straw. Less than a week later he died. On July 27, 1994, Carter drove to Parkmore, the place where he played as a child. He committed suicide by connecting one end of the hose to the exhaust pipe and directing the other into the car through the side window. He was 33.
We bring to your attention 15 photographs behind which there are real stories that at one time horrified even the most experienced criminologists.
A photograph that went down in history as “The Most Beautiful Suicide.”
Evelyn McHale committed suicide by jumping from the Empire State Building. Nearby photographer Robert Wiles captured McHale's body falling onto the UN limousine. Before committing suicide, McHale left her fiancé. Her suicide note read: “He will be better off without me. I couldn’t be a good wife to anyone.”
Regina Kay Walters.
This photo of 14-year-old Regina Kay Walters was taken by serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades, who was later captured driving a truck with a torture chamber in its trailer. Before taking this photo, Rhodes cut off his victim's hair and forced her to wear a dress and heels before killing her in a barn in Illinois.
Tyler Hadley.
17-year-old Tyler Hadley wanted to throw a party, but his parents were home, so he beat them both to death with a hammer. He hid the corpses, restored order and invited guests, while the bodies of his parents remained in the house. This photo was taken the night after the murder, when Tyler confessed to his friend Max (left).
Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Kevin Carter.
South African photographer Kevin Carter worked in Sudan during the 1993 famine. The photo shows a starving child crawling towards a food distribution center while a vulture prowls nearby, waiting for an easy prey. Carter could not approach children due to the risk of infection. Three months after the Pulitzer Prize ceremony, 33-year-old Carter committed suicide, unable to bear the painful memories.
Travis Alexander.
The last photo of Travis Alexander taken by his ex-girlfriend Jodi Arias before his murder. She came to his house and while they were fooling around, she took several photographs of him. Travis' body was found in a bathroom five days later with 27 stab wounds, a slit throat and a bullet in the head.
Cult of "Heaven's Gate".
On March 26, 1997, 39 adherents of the Heaven's Gate cult committed suicide, believing that their souls would be taken to Comet Hale-Bopp by spaceship. The founder of the cult, Marshall Applewhite, convinced them that aliens would soon cleanse the Earth, so they must leave this world.
Blanche Monnier.
Blanche Monnier was held captive for 24 years in a room where she had to live among her own excrement. She was discovered in 1901 when someone pointed out her location to the police. A woman has not seen sunlight for 24 years.
Reynaldo Dagsa.
Philippine politician Reynaldo Dagza photographed his family during New Year's celebrations. His killer was also caught in the picture. He turned out to be a car thief, whom Dagsa had once put behind bars.
"Peoples Temple"
American preacher Jim Jones founded the Peoples Temple religious movement, which went down in history with the largest mass suicide. 918 cult adherents committed suicide by cyanide poisoning.
Dean Corll.
Dean Corll earned the nickname Lollipop for constantly handing out candy to neighborhood children. He was one of the most brutal serial killers in history. Between 1970 and 1973, Corll raped and murdered at least 28 boys. He had two accomplices, one of whom shot him. This photograph was found among his personal belongings. The boy from this photo was never identified, which leads to creepy thoughts that there were much more than 28 victims of the maniac.
John Lennon and his killer Mark David Chapman.
Chapman killed Lennon just hours after this photo was taken. When Chapman was asked why he did this, he replied: "I thought I would get his glory."
Massacre at Columbine High School.
This photo was taken two weeks before the Columbine High School massacre, when 12 students and one teacher were shot and killed. In the upper left corner you can see two schoolchildren simulating shooting at the camera. Many see this gesture as a terrible prophecy.
Photo taken in a gas chamber in Auschwitz, Poland.
Terrorist attack in Omagh.
This photo was taken minutes before the Omagh attack in Northern Ireland. The explosive device was planted in the red car you see in this photo. The bombing, carried out by the Authentic Irish Republican Army, killed 29 people. The father and son captured in this photo survived.
Traveler Christopher McCandless.
The last self-portrait taken by Christopher McCandless before he ventured into the wilderness of Alaska. Shortly after this photo was taken, hunters discovered McCandless's body in an abandoned bus. As it later turned out, the traveler was poisoned by the root of a poisonous plant.
Kevin Carter won the Pulitzer Prize for his photograph "Famine in Sudan," taken in the early spring of 1993. On this day, Carter specially flew to Sudan to film scenes of famine in a small village. Tired of photographing people who had died of hunger, he left the village into a field overgrown with small bushes and suddenly heard a quiet cry. Looking around, he saw a little girl lying on the ground, apparently dying of hunger. He wanted to take a photo of her, but suddenly a vulture landed a few steps away. Very carefully, trying not to spook the bird, Kevin chose the best position and took the photo. After that, he waited another twenty minutes, hoping that the bird would spread its wings and give him the opportunity to get a better shot. But the damned bird did not move and, in the end, he spat and drove it away. Meanwhile, the girl apparently gained strength and walked - or rather crawled - further. And Kevin sat down near the tree and cried. He suddenly had a terrible desire to hug his daughter...
A day later he returned to Johannesburg (South Africa). At this time, the famine in Sudan was a “fashionable” topic and the New York Times immediately bought his photograph. It was published on March 26, 1993. What started here! The photo immediately became a symbol of the plight in Africa, and Kevin Carter became a celebrity. It was a victory! But the real victory came later, on May 23, 1994, when Carter received the Pulitzer Prize.
And only one thing darkened the joy. At first quietly, then the question began to sound louder and louder: what happened to the girl? Why didn't he help her? Newspapers no longer called him a “brilliant photographer.” “The man who calmly adjusts his lens to film the torment of a little girl,” wrote Time magazine (Florida), “is like a predator, just another vulture.”
In 2005, director Don Krauss made the documentary The Death of Kevin Carter.
Carter later told friends that he regretted not helping the girl: after all, there was a United Nations camp nearby where assistance was provided to the starving. But it was already too late. He falls into a deep depression. This immediately affects his work: rushing to an important meeting, he is late for the plane, then loses the footage...
On the morning of July 27 - the last morning of his life - Kevin was in in a great mood. After lying in bed until lunch, he went to the editorial office of the local newspaper and talked with former colleagues. Then he went to his widow close friend, who was killed a few months ago. At about 9 o'clock in the evening, Carter drove up to a small river, used a garden hose to connect the exhaust pipe to the passenger compartment, turned on the music, started the car and... fell asleep.
In his suicide note, Kevin Carter wrote: “I'm tired... without a phone... without money for rent... for children... to pay off debt... money!!! I am haunted by memories of murders and corpses and anger and pain... of hungry or injured children."
