Vulture Stalking a Child

Posted on by S.Za.

.

In March 1993, photographer Kevin Carter made a trip to southern Sudan, where he took now iconic photo of a vulture preying upon an emaciated Sudanese toddler near the village of Ayod. He had been invited by a former photographer friend who was then working as the information officer for the UN Operation to relief the famine conditions in the country.

Carter was part of a group of adrenaline-junkie war correspondents based in South Africa called the Bang Bang Club (Carter, Greg Marinovich, Ken Oosterbroek, and João Silva). He made his way to Sudan, saying he needed a break from the turmoil in his native South Africa, instead trying to photograph a civil war and famine he felt the world was overlooking. Carter said he waited about 20 minutes, hoping that the vulture would spread its wings. It didn’t. Carter snapped the haunting photograph and chased the vulture away. (The parents of the girl were busy taking food from the same UN plane Carter took).

Silva was in the same camp with Carter. Carter confided in him: “You won’t believe what I’ve just shot! … I was shooting this kid on her knees, and then changed my angle, and suddenly there was this vulture right behind her! … And I just kept shooting – shot lots of film!” He said he was shocked by the situation he had just photographed, saying, “I see all this, and all I can think of is Megan”, his 5-year old daughter.

.

Later in the month, when The New York Times was seeking an image to illustrate a story about the Sudan famine, the picture editor on the foreign desk called up Greg Marinovich, who told her about Carter’s photo. The photograph was sold to The New York Times where it appeared for the first time on March 26, 1993 as ‘metaphor for Africa’s despair’.

Practically overnight hundreds of people contacted the newspaper to ask whether the child had survived, leading the newspaper to run an unusual special editor’s note on 30th March: “A picture last Friday with an article about the Sudan showed a little Sudanese girl who had collapsed from hunger on the trail to a feeding center in Ayod. A vulture lurked behind her. Many readers have asked about the fate of the girl. The photographer reports that she recovered enough to resume her trek after the vulture was chased away. It is not known whether she reached the center.”

Journalists in the Sudan were told not to touch the famine victims, because of the risk of transmitting disease, but Carter came under criticism for not helping the girl. “The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene,” read one editorial.

Carter eventually won the Pulitzer Prize for this photo, but he couldn’t enjoy it. “I’m really, really sorry I didn’t pick the child up,” he confided in a friend. Consumed with the violence he’d witnessed, and haunted by the questions as to the little girl’s fate, he committed suicide three months later. He was 33.

As for other members of the Bang Bang Club, they went on to unhappy careers. Oosterbroek was killed in a friendly fire incident in Johannesburg during the final days of Apartheid. Silva stepped on a landmine in Kandahar and lost both of his legs. Only Marinovich survived, retiring to academia.

*

dumdum-patreon

Now that you are here: I am doing something crassly commercial here. I just signed up for Patreon. Patreon is a fundraising platform. In their words, “Patreon is an Internet-based platform that allows content creators to build their own subscription content service.” As you may notice in last few years, I have been posting very infrequently. But I want IP to go on for a long time and be sustainable. Linking a monetary value to a new post (not a ‘monthly salary’ — which is another way of doing Patreon) should give me a marginal incentive to write more. As far as the blog is concerned, nothing will change. No paywalls. Patreon is more useful for YouTubers and podcasters, but let’s see how it goes for me: https://www.patreon.com/iconicphotos 

 

554 thoughts on “Vulture Stalking a Child”

    1. Yes God exist and gave free will to people. this is a result of those greedy governments who rules their people to death. Its not God’s fault.

      1. The only thing necessary for evil to succeed is for good men (and gods) to do nothing. If there is a god, I haven’t seen very much evidence that he is good; there’s too much evil in the world going on for there to exist a ‘good’ god. For, if god expects man to do good, where is the example he sets for us?

      2. Evil exists. We all agree that. What is the opposite of evil?…..Good or Right, of course. Everything starts somewhere! Right? So, it would be safe to say that because there is so much evil and sadness in the world it had to originate from somewhere. There is a source. The answer simply is the devil, not consequence. Therefore, the opposite of evil being, Good, originated from somewhere as well. The Lord God Himself. So, the real question should not be “if there is a God why is there so much evil”, but actually, “how did all this evil come to exist?”. It never came from God. Tragedy, illness, Tsunamis, disasters, death, etc is not God’s doing. It’s the result of sin, and the author of sin is the Devil himself.
        God never intended for there to be thorns and thistles or pain and heartache beyond words! The result is Sin. Who sinned first? It was Adam, and its us, who on a daily basis fall so short of perfection, which is who God is.
        However, He is merciful!!!! Despite our failures and our faults, He opens His arms to receive any who’ll receive His Son, Jesus Christ, who paid the consequence of our sin on the cross. All we have to do is believe in Him, repent of our sin, trust Him as our Saviour, and afterward we can move on in life with purpose. What purpose? That not all have to suffer like this forever. That God has prepared a place, Heaven, without sin, without tears, without death.
        In ending, the question many have is “how could a loving God allow such miserable pain and suffering in the world?…..response…..”how is it that so many reject the love and mercy of God, and not seeing that He is not the cause of sin”….ask yourself this question. You may find there is so much more to God than what we see!!!! Read the Bible, not opinions or religions

      3. No God indeed. And yes, I’ve studied the Bible and can quote scripture from it better than most practicing Christians.

        So you think this child (or any other) suffers and dies because a woman ate an apple she was told not to? Because that’s what you’re saying, essentially. That God allows unimaginable suffering, sickness and famine, countless times over, to innocent men, women and children, merely because the first ONE woman he made broke a rule that he must have known in his omnipotence that she would break?

        If that doesn’t sound absolutely mad and criminally insane to you then you must be out of your mind as well.

        The Biblical story of God tells a tale of a creator who makes the rules, knowing that they will be broken and then punishes trillions of people afterward, for the rest of eternity, by creating suffering and evil (Isaiah 45:7). Then he demands that these same people he has made to suffer worship and love him or else he will make them suffer for eternity by burning them forever in Hell after they die. And by this we know he loves us. Again, madness.

        As has been said before: Either God can do nothing to stop catastrophes, or he doesn’t care to, or he doesn’t exist. God is either impotent, evil, or imaginary.

      5. @Sam

        He sent an example, and we crucified him.

        “So you think this child (or any other) suffers and dies because a woman ate an apple she was told not to?”

        It wasn’t an apple it was from the tree of knowledge, do not take this literally or you are a mere fool. That statement alone contradicts your knowledge of the scriptures, which are in all honesty somewhat of a chinese whisper to what was originally intended.

        You evidently and much like others do not know what “Free will” truly is, and when God refers to us being made in his images, this is exactly what he means. He made us perfect, like himself he also gave us one thing he had that no other creature possessed. Free will… This entails a lot more than just decision making of right from wrong, but the ability to also acknowledged right from wrong. Now he created us to be like him giving us decision and choice… He made us perfect like him… He does not make the same mistake as us, despite us being exactly like him, other than being omnipotent. We are more like him, that people realise… With that in mind, the way God would see it is… *I give you the decisions to do good things, but why do you always pick the bad? Despite knowing right from wrong????? Why should he make right of all our wrong doings? When he gave us everything we needed and more, he could have made us like robots and taken away our ability to think and feel and make our own decisions. So that’s it, you go and blame God for giving you the ability to make choices, its not his fault 90% of mankind choose the latter.

        Dont claim to have studied anything! because your only spouting off the negatives Catholics like shove down peoples throats… I recognise that religion is corrupt, and God already was aware of this in the future hence a warning to those who change the word of it. But religion believe it or not was scrapped when Jesus paid for sin, there was no chosen any more “forgive them because they do not know what they do.” This paid for ALL man’s sin, now its not a case of God letting it happen in fact he’s giving people a chance. Before he “corrects” mankind’s mistakes he’s given those who are worthy a chance to do right to separate pure evil to those who are just born into sin.

        Its the same as most religious people believe we go to heaven when we die, and hell if we was bad in life. This isn’t true, it clearly says who goes to heaven and its no more than 144,000. Hell is a miss interpreted more than likely on purpose by Catholics… I’ll brake it down for people… Why do people get made to believe in old wise tales that its under ground? Because its funny that the word Hell actually means grave, and pretty much means if you “sin you will go to hell/grave.” there’s more to this but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out.

        You don’t need religion to believe in God, and you would be ignorant to believe you do.

      9. God is omnipotent
        God is Omnibenevolent
        God is omniscienent
        God will prevent all evils he can (from 2)
        God knows of all evils (from 3)
        God can prevent all evils (from 1)
        God will prevent all evils (from 4+5+6)
        The world will contain no evil (from 7)
        But, the world contains evil.

        Therefore, God is either not good enough, strong enough, or knowledgeable enough to fix this suffering.

      10. Its quite simple really. The creator of mankind gave us a guidance and tells us to follow the guidance. The problems of the world is due to man and their greed. If you want to know about how he says you should live your life and look after each other, live in peace and harmony,just READ THE HOLY QUR’AAN translation in modern english if you do not understand old english. Any comments to this reply is welcome, but only if you have read the QUR’AAN. We cannot go into dialogue if you have not read it.

      13. Ok, lets just say God exists and gave man free will, and all bad that has happened on earth from the creation and to this day, are caused by us, and us alone. Then I can accept that even the hurricanes, sand storms and other similar natural catastrophies caused by weather, are our own faults.

        But please tell me how it is our faults when it comes to earth quakes, and tsunamis caused by them. Did we change the atmosphere so that the continents started moving, and thus created earth quakes? Please explain how anything man did throughout history can possibly have caused this?

      14. I find it funny and pathetic the way some people (mis)understand the concept of God: that He is some kind of escape clause, a ‘get out of jail free’ card, a Mr fix-it, the ultimate superhero, or a magic button/’undo’ option that when pressed, should immediately end anything evil, bad, cruel or deadly. D-uh! You guys may have read the Bible, Torah, Quran, etc (as some have claimed here) before you decided to be a non-believer/atheist/whathaveyou, but apparently you forgot to read between the lines. We were set here on Earth with FREE WILL to do whatever we want, but with ample guidelines as to what is good and what is bad. We were also told the consequences of our actions in this world. We have done good and we have done bad. It is up to us to promote good or bad, it is up to us to stop good or bad. Just because you choose to stand idly by while some horrible misery unfolds, you reach the conclusion that there is no God?! Learn to take some responsibility. This image depicts a crisis that did not just happen out of the blue. What led to this? How could we have let it happen? How can we stop more of it from happening? Those are the questions to ask, instead of passing the buck and waiting for God to make everything hunky-dory again and again, every time we screw up. Just think about it: if God was to keep interfering and making everything nice & pleasant for us, he might as well have created robots and programmed them to do ONLY good. A lot less to clean up afterwards, that way.

      15. According to ridiculous ‘Christian Logic’ everything is god’s fault. He knows how things will happen, he writes the path for them to happen… Don’t blame people when it’s bad but god when it’s good.
        I am an Atheist because of the silliness of believing in any deities, but for you to say ‘Oh im a christian and bad things like this is not god’s fault’ is not only one of the most typical and dumbest things to say in this situation, but it also goes against what you claim to believe. If god was real like your book says… This would be all his fault.

      16. I don’t think any of this is God’s fault he gov e s you life a spirit the best and amazing gift any man can ever ask for but then you have madmen that’s scavengers that want greed and big houses nice cars nice clothing but wouldn’t help starvation that’s all over the world it’s people like you who would rather judges a God or don’t believe in one that sit and judge a picture misreading helping and praying to prevent this matter you are a fool to not believe in God you don’t see oxygen but your still breathing. when it come down to it that’s the last thing you will ever ask for is a couple more breaths.Fool.Money=Help=Love=Human

      19. A cruel non caring,thing you call god…You can keep the “son of a bitch..” People dying every minute,of every,from illness,lack of food,lack of money,ect..and u believe in a so called god..you can take your god and shove it in your ass….Where was he when,my friends were,were being killed in viet nam? Where was it,when my oldest daughter,was being beaten death?? Where was it when our 8 month ,son was dying in my arms,after a drunk female,hit my wife headon,in 1986 ..Where was it when my 23 year old son was killed in the middle east,in 2011??? You want a careless,uncaring,unloving,do not gave a damn,for anything,,,god!!!u got him,keep it away from me…art

      21. It is God’s fault. He created everything, didn’t he? Including evil. There is no God.,Why would God (presumably knowing past, present and future) would knowingly set humanity for failure? Your bible is nothing but fairytales.

      22. It may not be gods fault, but he’s assumed to have the power to stop it. With great power, comes great responsibility. Of course there’s no god. Don’t fool yourself.

      23. What do you know about free will? Have you ever studied the issue? Do you know that only 13% of professional philosophers who have considered the issue of free will actually believe in it as you do? There are several conceptions of free will: Libertarianism (what most people mean when they use the term), compatibilism, and incompatibilism. I invite you to go to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and look these up and learn about them. For the 13% number see the philpapers.org survey of over 1000 professional philosophers from the worlds top universities… very few of them believe in the type of free will that you are talking about, because it is incoherent and impossible given everything that we know and relies entirely on magic to get around the contradictions with known reality.

      25. Twoim zdaniem istnieje, innych ludzi zdanie może byc odmienne. Nigdy go nie czulam i pewnie juz nie poczuje wierze tylko w rzeczy namacalne, on dla mnie nie istnieje i w moje zycie nigdy nie zawita. Ale jesli tak jak twierdzisz istnieje to kawal skurwiela z niego skoro pozwala na taka sytuacje jak ta na zdjeciu powyzej,. To przezciez dziecko zdaniem ludzi wierzacych dar od Boga prawda??? Wiec szczegolnie o nie powinien dbac. Swoja droga rozpieprzylo mnie to zdjecie….

      26. I love how everyone blames/credits whatever system is convenient for them….my parents being doctors always told me that generally when they saved a patient who was near death, the patients family would credit God, whenever a patient died, they would blame the physician…..funny…truth is God isnt holding you back from going to africa or wherever and helping, ‘God’ begins and ends with you. If you feel like displaying any hate towards a God or whatever I suggest get a journal, or maybe talk it out with your bff’s, as there is no point in comments that bring up a religious agenda that has absolutely nothing to do with the article and bring absolutely no enlightenement to those who will read your post. Just a suggestions, or you can keep venting since we do have freedom of speech, and just seem like a very unhappy, angry, person who isn’t doing anything for the world, just saying.

      27. what was god doing when vulture was stalking;The same free will he has given to us , he has his free will to let the child die . No saviours here and no saviours there. it’s myth. looking for the god is a fool.

      29. The person who said this is not being genuine: “this is a result of those greedy governments who rules their people to death.” You are greedy. Get off your ass and go help Africans, that’s your choice. But no, you choose not too. enjoy your latte.

      30. if god is all powerful he could do something about this to me this proves that there is no god and religion is responsible for the wars that cause this sort of thing its not only famine . we should all help our fellow man but we dont do we

      33. Not god’s fault, but god won’t help either. That baby is now vulture feces, but hey, god’s gotta feed the vultures too, right? Reality is nature doesn’t car about anybody. Humans are not god’s “special creation.” That is just a delusion to make such believers feel better about themselves. Fact is, we are made of the same exact food components as the same animals we eat. We are all food for somebody.

    2. Yes, the almighty God exist. He is the one who gave the life in the cross for you and me. hes the one who is their in our trouble times helping us, hes the one carrying us all the way through hes the one of the miracles and the one who haves mercy. If we meet and you forget me you have lost nothing.but if you meet Jesus Christ and forget him you have lost EVERYTHING. when we think that he does not hear our prayers well we are wrong he hears each one of our prayers. hes loves everyone in this whole word. he created the heavens and the earth. he is with us always believe in him.

      1. If god is almighty, how he could accept this? There is no god, no righteousness, no support. All you guys need to trust just yourself. That is the way how you can achieve your own freedom and recognize the real truth…

      2. “when we think that he does not hear our prayers well we are wrong he hears each one of our prayers. hes loves everyone in this whole word. he created the heavens and the earth. he is with us always believe in him.”

        Please tell this to the girl on the picture. Living a normal life in a normal country in 2012, I would say you have to be either plain stupid or just in a dont-want-to-know-state to believe there is a god. Like I said: the climate changes and everything caused by that are our own faults, as are the wars and hunger in some parts of the world. But I asked someone to please explain to me how the heck it can be our fault that the continents move and by that; create earthquakes and tsunamis with hundreds of thousands of deaths… If there is a god, why doesn’t he stop this?

      4. I will pray for all the non believers on here. May they accept Jesus as their Savior.

      6. thank u brian. I’m not looking for anyone’s hand and not expecting one for. I do not have time to think about apocalpyse, hell and heaven non existing thing. I’m watching PBS philae landing of EAS on a comet travelling @ the speed of 40,000 miles/hr. I want use my brain which i can comprehend and see and enjoy not on imagination or unseen things or worlds waste my life.

      8. Not much different between Isis believers and you. They are sick. You are kind. The However, both brain washed.

      9. Sure but I guarantee you, if you were in that environment, you’d be vulture food too, regardless of your religious beliefs.

    3. God’s side of the coin is mercyful. All innocents go to heaven when they die. Adults do bad things like abortions. God takes care of those little souls. Wonderful. Isn’t it?

      Mercy was available to photographer too. I hope he died slowly enough to ask forgiveness from Jesus and became saved.

      God bless you all

      Jyrki

    5. Before this world was created, there was heaven, filled with bright, happy angels. One angel, Lucifer, held seeds of rebellion in his heart. While all of the other heavenly beings loved and adored God, he was jealous. He craved power and authority. He wished that the host of angels would bow to him.

      As he cherished these selfish thoughts, they grew and grew in his mind, until they were his all-consuming passion. Soon, he was trying to convince other angels to rebel. One third of the angels followed him.
      “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth.” Rev. 12:3,4

      God, our God of love, was grieved at this. He could not allow Lucifer, who was now called Satan, and his followers to continue to dwell in heaven. He cast them out.
      “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Rev. 12:7-9

      Lucifer accused God of being cruel and unfair, and His laws of being impossible to keep. God was now on trial before the entire universe. Were Satan’s claims right? Was God a tyrant?

      About this time, God created our world. He created Adam and Eve. He walked with them every day, talking and conversing with them. “And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” Gen. 3:8

      In the garden where He placed Adam and Eve, God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was the one place where Satan could have access to the new world and it’s inhabitants. Adam and Eve had free choice between good and evil, God and Satan.

      God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but they disobeyed. In this way, they chose to give themselves to Satan.
      “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Gen. 2:16,17

      God, in His mercy, made a way of escape for Adam, Eve, and all of their descendants. “Sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4 The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). 4,000 years later, God would send His Son to earth to pay the wages of sin for all mankind, by becoming human and being crucified on the cross. In this way the whole human race could still choose God and be saved. Adam and Eve were grieved at being separated from God, and rejoiced at the promise that someone would redeem them.

      As I said before, God was on trial. So that the universe could see who Satan really was, Satan was allowed to reign in the world, working out what he thought was right. Obviously, since he is the author of sin and suffering, our world is filled with terrible things.

      Each one of us now has to make the decision to accept God or reject Him (thereby giving Satan dominion over our lives).

      God is a God of love and mercy. He hates to see suffering. He is strong enough to stop Satan, stop sin, and end suffering. However, until this world ends, there will always be bad things happening, because Satan allowed to show his true colors. If God were to take complete control of this world, and not give men a choice between Himself and Satan, He would be acting unfairly, treating us like robots.

      God will not burn the wicked in hell forever. The Bible does not teach this. Rather he will destroy them all at once with fire.

      God is love.

      1. A God of Love destroy? Sounds like a contradiction.All souls are perfect. It is only because we are so caught up in the shadows of this world and our dual nature that we seem to be imperfect.

      3. One flaw in your story. God is supposed to know everything, so when he created Satan he knew he would betray him. Why would he create someone he knew would bring pain and suffering into the world? Why would be even place a tree that had the potential to curse all of humanity in the garden? Why would he set Adam and Eve up like that? Why not just not create Satan and leave the tree out of the garden?

        Your god is a joke.

      6. Thanks for the post! The fall of Lucifer is my favourite story from all mythology. Lucifer is such an iconic figure. He’s the one who first realized that independent thought was better than blindly following anyone, or anything. He teaches us that all things begin and end with the self. Questions things, always. Think for yourself, always. Forge your own path, always. Hail!

      7. Nice! Yes god is love, quoting bible passages and blaming Adam, or Lucifer for your sins is hogwash.
        Dont judge them or their life. Concentrate on judging your self. You are the only one you know well enough to judge, and or, do anything about.
        ♡♥♡

      8. This story of “God” and “Satan” sounds like the rantings of an insane child. Its so ludicrous, childlike, nonsensical … and most of all, it is clearly written like a story to appeal to people with little to no education.
        Its actually sad that some intelligent people actually close down their brains, shut off off logic, and literally convince themselves to believe this inane and bizarre fictional story (poorly told, in fact) because of vast social conditioning (usually starting with parents, then other family, friends, and of course church).
        The other things about this story is that is clearly written with pre-defined goals in mind. In other words, no one was actually relating events that happened in a certain sequence — the exact opposite occurred. The writers (of which there dozens and dozens of writers and editors of the bible) CREATED STORIES and EVENTS to conjure up images and themes and lessons which could be indoctrinated and brainwashed into the masses. The goal? Power and wealth, the oldest drivers of human nature.

      10. Its not a made up story, eternal spirit and reincarnation are things you know not much about, no harm no foul.
        Its a history that u didn’t get to witness, so its understandable that you can’t fathom the miracles that millions have.
        I agree many churches are powerful,greedy and a way to control the masses, but God gave free will, there’s good and bad on every world, if not, wed have nothing to choose from.
        If ya think this life is all ya get, good luck after your body turns to dust.
        Love Omnaka

    6. God does exist. God’s voice was very clear in asking anyone and everyone watching to feed that child. The photographer didn’t listen. Will you listen when an inner voice of compassion speaks to you to bring compassion to a scene that needs it?

      4. Don’t judge!don’t judge unless you are unreproachable, or god told you to💜

    8. He does! I do not necessarily believe in the Bible but I have been witness to miracles both small and large. Their is a beauty in the delivery of the right solution at the right time but what’s even more beautiful than that is the absolute grace, love and acceptance in believing in a higher power and surrendering. When I see a photo like this I do pray, as I pray for every person I hear of that is battling cancer or disease, or someone facing a great loss. My prayers are always first for God to intercede but then the prayer is redirected to his will and the timing of everything and wishing acceptance. Imagine this as a prayer “Dear God, please save this child and all the children of Africa, help them create a life of sustainability – free from corrupt political leaders and give these people, your people some solace from the hardship they have faced. If this is your will then please be with this child, help him be not afraid, wrap your arms around them as they go to heaven and help their families deal with their loss.” It may seem ridiculous to those who don’t believe but there is power in releasing these thoughts into the universe. God does not exist to fix everyones problems – he is rather closer to a symbol of hope and faith for something better. He can move mountains and in other cases there are reasons beyond what anyone can know for things happening the way they do. With or without a belief in God the world will be a place filled with love as well as suffering and loss. God and Faith is something that can help bring some peace no matter the outcome.

    9. God gave Kelvin curter a chance to save the girl so that he could be remembered for a good did, but he didn’t. Imagine if he took the photo and saved the girl at the same time, how could it have been? He would have become the most celebrated photographer in the whole world and could have also won a humanitarian award. But he didn’t, the guilt haunted him to his death! God gives us chances to do good…don’t be like Curter.

      1. We all make mistakes in Life, and we all do not know what was going through his mind (Carter)….did God say he must save the child??…..this is just a sad situation which also did not end well for Carter, its very depressing ! I believe in God and hope that one day he will make me understand and help us answer all the questions that have been raised in this discussion.

      2. So instead of making Africa able to sustain agriculture and life, your god starved a little girl (most likely to death) to test some guy from another continent and give him the chance to do a good deed? I don’t buy it. Your god is either an ass or he isn’t real. Would you starve your toddler for the chance of someone else being able to do a good deed by feeding her?

      3. Deno, $1000 could save more than a little girl. This is your test: donate now. Work and donate %50 of your income. Many will benefit, much more than a little girl you are moved emotionally to pick up. And if you don’t may your guilt haunt you until your death.

    11. Obviously famine is not created by lack of food supply, but rather greedy controlling governments that withhold it from the people. How can you blame God for the consequences of greedy people?

      The truth is, you can’t, and don’t. Yours is a smug statement to try and support your diminishing hope that there really is no God. When in fact, you already know He exists. And that likely scares you to death.

      1. Yeah that’s it, scared to accept there is a god. What a rediculous comment, it doesn’t bother me if there is a supernatural being or not. Religion is sti not the reason for this.

    12. ME, I doubt you will ever seen my comment because yours was several years ago… So this is kinda for you but more for those that come behind me….. You say God exists? FREEWILL?? Tell me is it the “FREEWILL” of this child to starve to death?? It seems its more of your GODS free will… Free to let people suffer horrible pain… horrible deaths…… No!! There is NO GOD!!

      1. I understand the feeling, expecially after seeing a photo like that, unfortunately having free will does mean that things like that and even worse are possible and happening all the time, but can you imagine what our life would be like if we were not allowed to make our own choices, forget about love and romance because your lover would be assigned to you, forget what your good at your career will be chosen for you. in fact every choice you can imagine will already be pre selected. you wouldnt have a favorite food you would just eat what is provided. you catch the drift? no fun. no its not that childs free will being excercized, but it was the parents free will to have sex, it was the politicians free will to be corrupt and it was the USA governments free will to corrupt them. The child will not go to hell or anything and it was probabaly better off dying then because if it survived it would have to still be in that living hell, now shes in a better place (assuming she did die) my heart stopped 10 years ago and I was dead for several minutes, I know there is an afterlife and I know its nothing to fear, I had all the same experiences that you usually hear in a near death experience, An overwhelming sense of unconditional love is what really stood out. There MUST be a god, If there was NOTHING in the universe but a single tiny pebble, or even a hydrogen atom for that matter, it must have had a beginning, it might not be the god from the bible but its a creator none the less

      2. Indeed GOD exists. That’s the very reason he reveals to us our worse side through such suffering the child goes through.
        “…that God threw Satan down to us…” I strongly begin believing so. How else can one demonstrate that he/she is Lucifer’s own sibling other than inflicting such immense calculated agony to the innocent child?
        just look at the picture again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    13. What is this, a philosophy class? The guy should have picked up the child, find drinking water and medical help. There is a Talmudic saying “To save the life of one is as if you saved the whole world”. In the end he made no attempt to save that one child and lost his own.

    14. 1st of all let me say this if any of u did ur research and I mean doing real research, not just using the bible as historical fact but going beyond the bible. 2nd humans are not worth the bones their flesh is on that’s why the one true creator of time and matter ( which u humans call GOD , only because another smarter human that has selfishness in his heart to control u humans that have no common sense which there is a lot of u. ( by the way yes I’m human but I am disgraced to call myself human cause of what I have learned from this world) if only u humans would think for urselfes and see things as they really are. Starting with saying the being that created u is called GOD when did this creator come and introduced himself and said I’m GOD. Cause I missed it. This is what I have came to believe all religions are frauds they are designed by smarter humans than u. If the creator had designed religion it would not have seperated man and Ben at the head of all wars. And the fact that most of all humans choose to believe in these religions just because either another human told them about it or a government forced it upon them. And they replace the creator whith these so called truths the creator does not look our way cause ill tell u this if I was him I would do the same. Ur belief in this greater power than urself is so very important to our souls but like whores we sell to the one that best suits out place in this world. U take a Christian and take his soul and put it in a baby being born in North Korea would he grow to be a Christian or sell himself like a whore into their religion . And yet u humans believe we have free will. This planet is ruled by the elite and they have the real knolege but they want u to be stupid human slaves and all of u are doing a great job at that. To prove my point all in the USA pay taxes believing its the law but yet not one law says we have to pay taxes. All in the USA believe they have to have a driver license to drive a car but yet no law says we need one as a travelor u only have to have a driver license if ur job is driving for a company which the DMV was created for but yet look at all of u. Just because someone told u this is the way and with out looking into it and doing our own research we get in those long lines and truly feel in ur heart it’s a must u humans will take time from ur job to go in that line. So is that enough examples of how stupid u humans really are. Now if you would do real research about ur religion and see how this all came to be. Ill give a little about the bible the god in the bible is really the planet Saturn. U knw I will stop here don’t take my word for it go do ur research and if u don’t do research for atleast 5 yrs ull not scratch the surface and let me guess lots of u won’t even give 5 yrs to learn the truth this is the problem u want it all to be handed to u. Now u see why the true creator of time and matter don’t look our way. Think for your self man is a liar and a fraud when it comes to cash what do u think he will do to control the population to be slaves to make him to feel like god.

    15. “This is the price we pay for sin and we were damned long ago.” There is a great deal of God, being absent from what we do to ourselves and others in this world, we have created our own nightmare. “I know there has to be something better then this.” “Unfortunately, the defenseless, helpless and innocent suffer more, for the sins of man.” Kevin Carter, committing suicide wasn’t the answer, if his consciousness, had condemned him for not helping this child, he could of changed his fate and went back to do what others wouldn’t or couldn’t and that was “help,” them in some way.

    16. “I can’t bare look at this photo again.” I am deeply sadden, the the absence in humaity there.

      1. A lot of stuff to think about. Well I will never be the same after reading this info! I really feel like I should send you money for your amazing content. I can not believe what I just learned. There simply must be some other option then the choices you’ve laid out here. I never found any other article like yours.

    17. Believe in God or don’t believe in God. Read the Bible or don’t read the Bible. What God or the Bible have to do with humans taking responsibility for the basic way in which they treat others or the imbalance of resources and power that leads to people starving while others are having a fine meal on a yacht with a sweet bottle of $500.00 Christal…is that really a God thing or a people thing? As a side note, why do so many people who say they don’t believe in God or the Bible make it part of the conversation?

      1. Yes Brian I totally agree with you. And you are absolutely right. These bibles and korans are for weak minded people and god and religions are for business and to divide human kind and kill each other.

    22. If there is no God, then I under no obligation to help others. I don’t have to help the poor or give to charities. And I should not feel any guilt from not doing so. I can even demand that others give or that the poor are the government’s problem. Gosh, I’m sounding like a liberal.

    23. Everyone criticized this photographer for not helping this child, which drove him to commit suicide. I would like to know how many of you hopped on a plane to Ethopia to help even one child? This man did his job, (by the way, following explicit directions provided to him about not touching the people), these pictures will hopefully spur others to continue to spread the photographs world wide. Maybe that will put an emphasis on the corrupt governments that take the food and medical supplies that the U.S. and other countries send that the people never receive. Greed and corruption is the devil in this and many situations.

      1. What a stupid thing to say… There are two kinds of people; intelligent people without religion, and religious people without intelligence.
        I ask again; please explain to me how it can be our (human kind) fault that for example earthquakes and tsunamis caused by them happen? Did we do anything to cause the continents moving? Seriously; if there was an omnipotent God, why would he let such killings of millions of innocent people happen? Believing in God is simply a lame excuse for not wanting to know the truth…

  3. It’s great that he shooed the bird, but I cannot imagine why he did not help the girl reach her destination. She must have been in so much pain. He could have even helped her after he took the shot. Instead, he went to a tree and started to weep.

    1. I think I understand. the picture is incredibly moving and is the ultimate image of hunger, truly a tragedy. However, I think that firstly, the girl’s parents were at that very moment receiving food, which would have made it back to their child; secondly, the photographer did chase away the vulture; and thirdly, as heart-wrenching as this is, it was not the photographer’s responsibility, place, nor right to intervene. Before I receive several angry replies screaming about what a heartless wench i am, let me explain what my point of view is, and I guess what the photographer’s was at the time.

      The girl’s parents were alive and present, nearby collecting food, and the girl was also on her way to the food station – she stopped to rest in this photograph. To jump in in her parents’ place is just not appropriate: imagine an authority figure swooping down and seizing your child, saying that you are incapable of helping her, and thus remove her from you, when she and you are in the very process of getting aid in any case. In this situation though, I agree, circumstances were perhaps dire enough to override even this argument. This is where the second argument comes in. Photojournalists were “told not to touch famine victims for fear of spreading disease.” (Cinders. 2009. “Kevin Carter: The Consequences of Photojournalism. http://www.fanpop.com/spots/photography/articles/2845/title/kevin-carter-consequences-photojournalism ) Furthermore, she was on her way to the UN food aid center, and Carter later reported that she was successful in her journey there. What more could he have done, really, than give her something to eat, which she achieved regardless?

      Finally, I would like to mention that Carter clearly did have a heart when he chose to commit suicide. Not only was the metaphorical feasting of the media on his apparent choice to ignore the girl’s fate a factor in his depression, but he had been chronicling violence, death, and fear in the area for years. Days before his suicide, a close friend of his was killed in a conflict and another seriously wounded. (Cinders 2009) This man was something of a tortured soul, I think.

      All that being said, I whole-heartedly agree that this photograph is terrible and terrifying. It indicates that the hunger felt in some areas of the world is truly awful, and this image alone could inspire tears. Despite the trash talk about Kevin Carter, I think that, as twisted as this (and the world) is, almost the best way to help her – and the millions more worldwide – was really just to take the picture, show the world her suffering, and move people as it has moved you and me: these are the things that inspire action.

      1. He could have helped her without physically touching her. He could have even told someone else if he didn’t want possibly “[spread] disease.” That law could have been easily followed if he would have told her parents or something; she’s still human. He just left her there. It’s awful that he committed suicide out of his guilt. Most likely there are two lives lost from this happening. There’s really no justification for what he could, but didn’t do.

      2. I agree with every word youve said, in the end there was really nothing more he could have done. I believe he did do all he could.

      4. I think you are assuming and inferring too much without having been there…you are over thinking the whole thing. I hope that doesn’t happen when it comes time for you to do what is right…when you’re humanity is a stake.

      5. Jessnutt speaks truth. I couldn’t put it any better than Jessnutt, or the picture for that matter.

      6. Jessnutt speaks truth. I couldn’t put it any better than Jessnutt, or the picture for that matter. Actually I’m compelled to use it as a project in my art class and will show it to my history class because I think everyone should see this picture and think for it, for the girl. Because my class mates are very vain and self centered they should all see that their lives are not the only ones they should think about, but then what else can we do but look, take time to look at the girl. That’s all I wanted to say.

      7. I agree; As I am studying poverty in school. I believe that there are thousands of people without food and people who could be in the little girls place. I do not blame Carter for anything.

      8. My heart bleeds for his daughter and ex-wife who he rang just before ending it all, Kevin needed drugs and drink to cope, his life was falling apart after the Pullitzer, when his best friend died so tragically it was the final straw. As for the ingrate comments on this site, the danger in helping was infecting the girl, not the girl infecting the photographer, she would be weak enough for a cold to kill her. Also feeding her with anything too rich would kill her also, many more died after the concentration camps were liberated, thanks to the overwhelming desire of the rescuers to help, Dysentery and cholera ran riff with the incoming liberators, like the aid workers in Haiti introduced during their relief efforts after the earthquake recently.

      9. Thank you Jessnut. That was the most sensitive, intelligent, sensible, compassionate comment I have ever heard/read on this subject. It also put my heart and mind greatly at ease, after having been very tortured by this image and torn over the many arguments. THANK YOU.

      10. Andrew Houghton, THANK YOU. Another very sensitive and intelligent point of view.

      12. good comment! Carter had to eye witness all of this, can anyone imagine how hard it must have been for him?…..dealing with such situations is not easy, some people can handle such but others cannot! we could speak of what he could have done differently..but maybe we can look at what this picture says….Poverty is a reality, and someone out there is dying because of some selfish greedy people. Let us look at ways in which we could prevent this from happening. Stop defending your God (he does not need you to do that) but let us do good works, let us not try and make people believe in God through speech but let us show the power that God has given us to change current situations. Let us see God in action!

      13. Agreed. She more than likely had an extremely weakened immune system. Food helps keep your cells strong to fight disease. By touching her and breathing on her while carrying her he may caused more harm than good.

    2. its not his job to help he is just there to take the pictures its the relif workers job ….. he wished he could of helped, and he committed sucide because of this but if the relief workers had helped he wouldn’t be dead right now!

      1. He is dead because he had alot of debt, unpaid child support and no money. Dont be mistaken into thinking that this event haunted him until he couldnt take it anymore. He was happy for it because the fame that it brought him. Sure, he said he wished he helped her after being relentlessly criticized for not helping. And it was his responsibility to help her, because he was right there and decent human being would have. It is the responsibility of all human kind to do the right thing when the time comes. If he was going to bother to take the picture and spend 20 minutes watching her struggle, then he could have spent a few minutes more getting her a meal. Don’t you think?

      2. @nameless: you speak with a lot of authority… question is what do you base this authority on? something you read in the press at the time? or something stumbled upon browsing the internet? I don’t think anyone will ever know why he took his life; it could have been guilt, it could have been financial strain, it could have been a lot of things. Africa was not a great place in 1993 and still remains a violent and unforgiving land. What is certain and incontrovertible is that hardship, poverty, famine and death abound and this photographer, no matter his shortcomings, brought this message home not only to your sofa but to everyone who has ever seen this picture. I remember when the photograph was first published and it has stayed with me ever since. How many photo’s can you point to that have had as lasting an effect?

    3. Hi Madhatter,
      I can’t help it, but I must ask what would you have done !!! One question,,,,,,,, you are almost blaming Carter, please think about that little girls parents, where were they, why didn’t they do something !!! Who is more to fault it seems we all are !!!

  4. i feel so sad about this its really ashame that this little girl had to suffer like this…. and yeah he could’ve helped her i dont know what stopped him from helping her… she was so young its just to depressing to look at this.

    1. His responsibility is to raise awareness.
      The Family helped by the government should provide, are we right to interv or to look on learn and try not repeat these mistakes. Much retoric by many action by a few and the result is images like this and worse are capture each day still.

    2. He could have helped her, huh… and what could he have helped her do, exactly?

      Are you looking at this photo and assuming that she’s alone in the middle of nowhere? Do you think the photographer is just hanging out in the desert waiting all day long, completely alone -in the middle of the desert- just on the off chance a little girl might walk by and collapse? Does that actually make sense to you?

      This photo was taken near a UN plane, where people are waiting in line for food… Is he supposed to just pick her up and start yelling “who want’s a child?” in a language no one will understand until someone (he’ll have no idea who or their relation to the child) runs up and grabs the kid from him or until his behavior insults enough people that they form a mob a beat him to death?

      Maybe you think he should have kidnapped her, brought her back home and hooked her up to an IV and pumped the few nutrients her frail body might still be able to process into her body until it started to function again? Maybe go on to pay for her education, dance classes thru graduate school…

      1. He could have helped her to the plane so she could get a meal and maybe survive another day. Would have taken minutes if the UN camp was so close, right? I think you are simply just over thinking the whole thing.

      2. I couldn’t have said it any better than you did. There is always someone ready to jump up and criticize — but the truth is Kevin Carter did help, not just by chasing the vulture off, but by photographing the desperate conditions in Sudan. Because of him, children like this one did receive assistance and the world became aware of the atrocities in that region. There was nothing else he could do and only the very naive would say otherwise.

      3. I seriously don’t understand you people when you say that it wasn’t his responsibility to help the little girl. So what he took an amazing photo that helped bring awareness to the situation, that doesn’t negate his lack of decency in NOT HELPING THE STARVING CHILD RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. Fuck all you idiots that think he did everything he could.

      4. @ Irma
        Right on! I’m glad to see someone else state this opinion. That’s why this world is so messed up: people turning a blind eye to those in need. It’s kind of like when people hear someone scream, “Help! Rape!” and no one runs to aid. And I agree, it is ridiculously hypocritical to try to bring awareness of the situation of the time, but no help someone right in front of him. So messed up.

      5. Okay, whoa! Bravo, James! I was once told that, “life is too tragic to be taken seriously.” Your comment has given a a slice of sarcastic grit, humour, and wit, to this VERY grim, and reasonably so, forum.
        I agree with so many of you on this topic.
        Hunger should NOT and WOULD NOT be a problem if everyone gave a little, learned to grow their own vegetables (where available), bought straight from local farms, and forced big, corporate money makers of the food industry OUT of daily life. Here in Canada, I have watched the MAJORITY of the “fresh food counters” turn into storage areas for the processed, frozen food crap. People are getting FAR TOO LAZY and FAT in Western civilization, and starving elsewhere, all over the World! I don’t see any of the Africans dealing with an “obesity epidemic!” Obesity was NOT an issue during Wars and when families were rationed out sugar, eggs, and milk, like they were pure gold! Something to think about…

        Also, I was going to post a fact that one responder, namely Andrew Houghton, who posted a reply on January 30th of this year. I am ust going to copy/paste his remark. Before I do though, I would like to say that though I am,deeply saddened by the way this World operates, and how these people are apparently being viewed as ‘less important’, I say that BECAUSE it is through ignorance, and too many people “turning a blind eye” to the harsh realities of other countries, that people are being ALLOWED to starve, live in awful conditions, and are “poverty stricken”- even in the “wealthier” countries.

        For all you do-gooders out there who think you can ust waltz up to a starving person- ESPECIALLY one who is that emaciated, It is VERY important that you realize that you feeding them could actually KILL them! Andrew’s Statement: ” the danger in helping was infecting the girl, not the girl infecting the photographer, she would be weak enough for a cold to kill her. Also feeding her with anything too rich would kill her also, many more died after the concentration camps were liberated, thanks to the overwhelming desire of the rescuers to help, Dysentery and cholera ran riff with the incoming liberators, like the aid workers in Haiti introduced during their relief efforts after the earthquake recently.” THAT, right there, is the UNFORTUNATE MEDICAL TRUTH, PEOPLE. If you REALLY want to help, give up your cottages, yachts, big screen T.V.’s, internet, tourism, and get the hell over there, packed to the teeth with all that money you’ve saved, and damn well DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

        That photograph put the cherry on the cake for me! That is all. Rant and facts completed.

      6. Absolutely the most sensible thing I’ve read here, James. Kudos. It should also be noted that the power of this photograph inspired millions of dollars in aid and donations to help these people. He helped A LOT of people by taking this picture.

      7. How Blind mankind is, we thought we were watching the vulture’s reaction and its world, NOT KNOWING that The vulture was watching/looking into human world.

    1. irma and madhatter 89: I really wonder how many african girls in need have you pick up and ffed or raise to spake like that? You see, this man has lived years in this environment were death, murder and hunger ruled….he had hundreds of people to help each day every day there, that is why he killed himself. he saw so many bad and evil that he stopped believing in life. It is not that he was in his sofa and got out to the grocery and found this one girl to help. he had all africans around in need to help every day, as it is impossible, he chose to dedicate his life helping as he could, risking his life to show and tell the whorl. You, can find your own way to make a difference (thanks to famous “free will”), and then, you can speak and tell us. Perhaps you would abandon your life and travel to Africa picking girls. We all can make a difference. The real question is what am i doing to about it, instead of criticizing….and, am I doing all that I can? There are so many matters: violence of gender, poverty, animals in need, violence to animals, you name it. The important thing is that each one of us identifies with a cause and really commit to it making a difference. Don’t waste time talking, do!!

      1. Indeed you are close to the Kingdom of the Heaven Mary. And Might I add this from our LORD:

        Charity unites us to God; charity covers the multitude of sins: charity endures all things; is long−suffering in all things.

        5 There is nothing base and sordid in charity: charity lifts not itself up above others; admits of no divisions; is not seditious; but does all things in peace and concord.

        6 By charity were all the elect of God made perfect: Without it nothing is pleasing and acceptable in the sight of God.

        Through charity did the Lord join us into himself; whilst for the love that he bore towards us, our Lord Jesus Christ gave his own blood for us, by the will of God; his flesh for our flesh; his soul for our souls.

        8 Ye see, beloved, how great and wonderful a thing charity is; and how that no expressions are sufficient to declare its perfection.

        9 But who is fit to be found in it? Even such only as God shall vouchsafe to make so.

        10 Let us therefore pray to him, and beseech him, that we may be worthy of it; that so we may live in charity; being unblameable, without human propensities, without respect of persons.

        11 All the ages of the world, from Adam, even unto this day, are passed away; but they who have been made perfect in love, have by the grace of God obtained a place among the righteous; and shall be made manifest in the judgment of the kingdom of Christ.

        12 For it is written, Enter into thy chambers for a little space, till my anger and indignation shall pass away: And I will remember the good day, and, will raise you up out of your graves.

        Happy then shall we be, beloved, if we shall have fulfilled the commandments of God, in the unity of love; that so, through love, our sins may be forgiven us.

        14 For so it is written, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth no sin, and in whose mouth there is no guile.

        15 Now this blessing is fulfilled in those who are chosen by God through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen

      1. It is very informative and you’re obviously very knowledgeable in this area. I take a look at your post about every few days. Will you write up more content on this topic? There is something about this website that is rather addictive and I’d like to discover just what it is. I must say, I really love what you have done to your website. I don’t even know where to go from here now that I have read this.

  6. Sometimes I want to ask God why He doesn’t do something about world hunger.
    Why don’t you?
    Because I am afraid He may ask me the same thing.

    World hunger would not exist if we all felt a responsibility to help. You are the help that God intended. Instead we sit and do nothing in our comfy homes, drinking our 5 dollar lattes, pretending that this photo is just a photo, not reality. It is real, and we, YOU have a responsibility to do something about it. You saw it, now what are you going to do about it!

    1. We worry much more about someone’s feelings if we call them fat! If America ate half as much food, and sent the money saved to food organizations, what a huge (no pun intended) difference it would make in both worlds.

  7. Well this picture is higly controversed. Why ? I think because, it is the mirror of the occidental civilisation bad consciousness. Sometime Journalism and “information’ are so close of insane curiosity, that give some troubles to the audience that consuming this kind of images, in a voluntary way or not. It’s a chocing crude image, jsut 5 second wtching it and you will remembering it you are whole life.

    Life is crual, “God” does have nothing to do with this. It seems that Life have some rules, human beeing playing with it, humanity is 100% responsible of his violence acts. If “god” make some intervention he certainly not allowed any kind of war. Wars are frequents and XX century was cerainly the most violent century of the whole humanity history. So what, one thing is eveient, “God” allow wars, certainly there is a reason tho this fact. Why this mythic mysterious person that goes with the name of “God” ( in the case that he realy existing) then it is the only one to have the respons and know the interest of : wars, violence cruauty!! For us a mistery ?

    To all victims RIP to all survivors good lucks
    Struggle for life name of the game…

    1. Hey, if there is no God, then don’t bother me with your babbling. I am under no requirement to help anyone, right? Without God there is no moral,code – we’ve envoled from animals and the survival of the fittest. Do,you think one pride of lions shares with another pride? Or feels guilt when the Male kills a new born cub?

      1. ‘Without God there is no moral,code (…)’ buhaha! Yeah, right! There is no one more eager to commit even most brutal sadistic atrocities than someone who does it in the name of a god. I am capable of reasonable thinking and reflective conciousness, and make moral judgements. I UNDERSTAND the wrong from right. You, on the other hand, don’t-you only implement this moral code, because thats what you was told; you was train to do so, just like the lion can be trained not to kill it’s cub- it won’t but only because it was trained, not because it understands it’s wrong…

  8. This photo is shown in the Newseum in D.C. The info there says the photographers were told not to touch the people because they could bring diseases home from the countries such as this one. The photographer was torn between doing the “right” thing (getting her out of harm’s way) or doing what he was told to do.

    1. I hope that when you or I are faced with this decision, we can do what it right, instead of just doing what is easy or what we are told.

  9. I know what i would have wanted someone to do if it was my child and my family were in this situation, everybody is somebody’s child,somebody’s brother or sister or parent, if you see a child suffering like this isnt it a duty to treat them as if they were your own?

  14. […] distended stomachs, characteristic of protein deficiency — images which are to become all too tragically familiar in subsequent decades as famines happened in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Uganda, and the […]

  15. This might be the most harrowing photo I’ve ever seen. I think he should have tried to help this little girl but by taking the photo, he brought the world’s attention to this kind of crime against humanity. We should all be mad at ourselves for letting this type of suffering go on.

  16. The only thing that stopped him from helping the girl was his lack of compassion and selfishness. He simply didn’t care enough to help a poor and innocent child. There was no one there stopping him from doing was was right except himself. Not surprisingly, the coward in life took the cowards escape. I’m sad that he is dead, only because I cannot tell him what a horrible person he is for allowing the needless suffering of an innocent child right before his eyes and doing nothing other than exploiting her by taking a picture of what may have been her final moment on this earth. The most maddening thing about this photo is that it deceives the viewer by making them think the vulture is behind the girl instead of behind the camera. Just a talentless junkie exploiting the suffering of others in order to gain fame and fortune for himself. How sad and pathetic to be remembered this way, buy so deserved.

    1. Sounds more like you’re mad at him because you didn’t want to know about the suffering going on in the Sudan. Let’s face it – he brought it these conditions to the attention of the world, and the world wasn’t ready to hear it yet. After all, it’s hard to feel guilty if you can claim ignorance of a situation right? He made you see what others are going through, made you feel ashamed of what you have and what you take for granted and because of that, you blame him, hate him, and pile all the responsibility on him. The fact is, he did what he could. Had he touched her, or gotten to close, he could have killed her.
      Science shows we usually have bacteria and viruses on our skin at most times. We aren’t infected usually because of the lines of defense in our bodies. A little girl who’s lymphatic system isn’t strong enough to fight off disease to begin with is in even worse shape when malnourished. And pathogens can also be airborne, not just contact. Use your head and stop deflecting your guilt onto him. He made people aware…what did YOU do?

    2. you think he lacked compassion when chasing the vulture? When he submitted that photo? When he risked his health by visiting that country?by KILLING HIMSELF because he cared SO MUCH. suicide is not cowardly. Death is one of the biggest fears. People really have to be brave as hell to end their lives. You seem to lack compassion yourself, for you are not trying to put yourself in his shoes.

  17. There is a time to do your job and a time to be a human being. Apparently at this moment he found his “job” more important.

    1. I agree completely. He should have done SOMETHING, anything would have been better than this. I’m glad we have this picture tho, it can be a learning experience. How could a human being walk away from something this awful without doing something to change the outcome. That is what makes us human, we can feel compassion. I’m sorry for the photographers depression that led to his suicide. However, I am just as sorry for the apathy that allowed him to take this photo and then walk away, laws, rules, journalistic integrity…whatever. Where on earth was his soul, his human beingness? Pick that baby up and do SOMETHING. He didn’t do the right thing is what it all boils down to. He didn’t deserve to die because of his inhuman behavior but he absolutely failed as a human being on a very elemental level.

    2. Actually Kevin Carter wasn’t on duty when the picture was taken, he was on holiday trying to take a picture to show the world the suffering that was present in Sudan.

  18. Instead of debating how one man could have helped, why aren’t you asking yourselves how YOU are helping??? You think she’s the only starving child??? Get over yourselves and DO SOMETHING instead of just criticizing this man who can’t defend his actions to you now anyway.

    1. While I see where you’re coming from, you shouldn’t assume that people are not helping here. I’m a college student, and I sponsor a three kids: a thirteen-year-old named Rita from the Philippines, a three-year-old little girl from India, and a seven-year-old boy from India. I also do micro-lending with Kiva so that people can support themselves and get out of poverty, volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, campaign for human trafficking awareness, and a whole bunch of other things that help those who cannot help themselves. I’m not trying to toot my own horn, but I’m trying to convey that people can “do something” to help humanity and still give an opinion of what Carter did (or did not) do. I’m pretty sure others here help the less fortunate in one way or another. It literally makes me feel bad that he didn’t help her; I sincerely feel bad for that little girl. That’s why I commented about the photo.

      2. Shut da fuck man, u don’t do any of what u mentioned. Me too I donate billions n I fight crime n I help a lot ONLY ON THE BLOGS LIKE THIS.
        It wasn’t his fucken fault ass ( o )

  19. Instead of blaming the photographer who helped tell the world what was happening, why don’t you blame the corrupt governments who stole the food from their own people and caused the starvation in the first place.

  22. The good word of god is what this world needs. Study the bible and preach it to other’s because god will come like a theif in the night to save what is his and the evil will be left behind for tribulation.
    GOD BLESS

  23. The question is surely – “If we do nothing – are WE not guilty of murder” (by negligence if nothing else)?

    If her name was ‘Madonna’, the photographer would have had to pay a lot of money to take this ‘Pulitzer’ prize winning photograph. (AND, if it were anywhere else in the world, he’d have had to get a ‘release form’ signed before he could publish the photograph.)

    There are still NO human rights or rites for the majority of this world’s ‘humanity’.

    AS a mother, my heart is raped by all Earth’s ‘soul-less’ men – the same gender who decided what words & testimonies should be printed IN the Bible – for their own political and monetary greed.

    AS a ‘woman’ who represents all those who lost their ‘equal rights’ 2000 years ago, this one photograph has haunted me ever since I first saw it. (It was this single shot which kept me working 22 hours a day to build my social enterprise.)

    The words are written, and equality + justice are supposed to be ‘ours’ – yet there is little sign of any real change, (even in the UK, women still earn far less than men for the same work – and the latest Governance said after winning the election, that women’s pay should be equal by the year 2067)!

    Did a woman really stand in an orchard called Eden and hear a snake speak to her about how tasty an apple would be? – Don’t people actually think there may be an analogy here somewhere?

    What about this one – imagine the Earth is an apple – and its had 40% of its volume consumed… Because that’s the latest figure of over-demand quoted by the United Nations, spring 2011.

    When over half the world’s food harvest is wasted and the methane emitted is 23 times worse than CO2…
    When 22,000 children die every single day because of poverty & the 7 richest people in the world have a combined GDP in excess of 41 of the world’s poorest & most endebted countries…
    When over 40% of Earth’s surface land is degrading, dehydrated & desert…
    When it IS known that ODS speed the effects of climate change…
    When the photographer – like all unresponsible travellers – used aeroplanes & fossil fuelled vehicles to race across the world to take photographs of starving, dehydrated children to win an award for the photograph…

    …Then surely, at some point, all those who have committed the crime of ‘ignorance’ must surely pay the price – which innocents, like the little girl in the photograph, are currently paying today at the rate of 22,000.

    If this poor little girl died, then at least let her death not be in vain… Literally.

  29. Sam – what a load of athiest horse puckey! The picture isn’t remotely connected with religion – it is a tragic human situation created and fostered by greed around the planet. Humans have minds and intelligence to solve all the problems encountered but fail to do so because power and wealth take presidence over human kindness – it’s always been like that and we haven’t really improved from our days in the caves. The only thing that has improved is our means of killing each other and stealing more than our ancestors. Goodness and evil still exist – and it’s all a matter of personal choice.

  33. I’m going to use this picture for my photography class. It’s always haunted me. I can honestly say I feel bad for Kevin Carter. There is only so much you can take before you give in. And hope this girl is still alive and well (I believe we might actually be the same age), but the reality in the crisis of Sudan is that there is a likely chance she might not be, even if she did reach the UN camp.

  34. i think this is just because of the government of south africa that ti is not taking care for providing food to everyone if they wouldve the vulture would not stalk the child now i know that we should not waste food because with gods sake were getting food to eat but just imagine if we also did not got any food to eat you me or anyone in the whole world s been there i wish that that girl must reach heaven

  41. That is really fascinating, You’re an excessively professional blogger. I’ve joined your feed and stay up for searching for more of your magnificent post. Also, I have shared your website in my social networks

  44. Religious comments just go to show that it’s all down to how you interpret a story……. at the end of the day, we all know the right thing to do. If any living thing, be it person, plant or animal in in need, if you have the power to improve or save it’s life, then do it. You don’t need the word of god to be a good person, merely a heart filled with compassion and understanding.

    Quit involving religious views and just think about how you may have dealt with this situation differently. In the time you conclude whether it’s god’s will or not, you could have carried that young girl on your shoulders to safety, or bought a homeless man lunch, or said something nice to someone who may not usually hear it.

    Next time you see someone in need, help them. The light which may seem long gone in their eyes will re-appear with a single act of kindness. A smile that will melt icebergs.
    Love people, love.

  45. The thig is,,,,because there is eternal life after this temporal life, this is not the end all Life, for you or the child in the picture. I know it seems like it is though.
    That baby, (His/ Her Eternal Spirit) is being loved up beyond compair in our blessed Heaven, God did not kill this child, God only gave man freewill and the resources to do it. put the blame where it belongs, with MAN.

    Love Omnaka

  46. WOW one of the sadest pictures I have ever seen. God was there in the photographer, he didn’t let it get the little girl he did shoo it away, & in taking that picture showed us, how God has so blessed our lives, & how we as humans can make a difference. Its very sad that some people are so bussy arguing over God. To me the sad part is that country, can live above its means, better than it does. But goverment run it & have a lot to answer for, how dare they treat there own mankind in such a way, well I think we all know the answer !!! Ben you had it, we all have choices, to believe in GOD & GOOD, its stregenthing in all our aspects of our lives. I can promise you ONE thing, It sure never hurt to believe. so to you ONE & ALL try it, its free, it doesn’t hurt, you may even find you feel better. God loves you, so try & love him back. The one thing I think is equally as sad, is that Carter was so dammed by mad kind for his choices, and may I say they were not bad at all, he made sure she was safe, and then let the world know that these horrible thing are happening now in this day & age, while we are at home living in our safe houses, with power & appliance that make our life what it is !!!! I am so sad for Carter & his family, they did nothing wrong, but now have to live with this pain. May Our Lord Jesus Christ, comfort you & remind you that people like me love you, & are happy to share your pain, & tell you Carter made a large difference!! To Carter, I know you are looking over all off us seeing this, please for give mans ignorance & self endulgence. Last but not least to all of you reading this, we have minds of our own, & we do make choices, please think about that the next time you type something or say it !!! You may well just have the same effect that those human vultures had on Carter. !!! Love & best wishes to you all. oxoxoxo

  51. You don’t know the man so you can’t call him selfish, or heartless, you don’t know how he felt before he killed himself, you dont’ know how he felt when he came to the decision to take the picture, he raised awareness, you don’t sit there and question why he didn’t help her ask yourself why you didn’t prevent it and what you can do after you see this picture, maybe we’ll just go on with our lives and forget this maybe not, he is already dead and death is nothing to be happy about, he is not responsible for her, you dont even know the setting there couldve been a bunch of people sitting behind just watching him take the picture and not even notice the girl do you know? you don’t because we’re all fkn judgement and just want to be right. I know I’m not but I just want to say what I feel.

  52. […] them in order to establish himself as a credible artist.  It reminds me (to some extent) of the iconic photo taken in 1993 of the Sudanese girl and the vulture – who was preying on the helpless and suffering […]

  54. This picture and these comments are here for a purpose and that purpose is to learn and purify your own heart. Please don’t be so quick to judge. As we sit and type, the same image is being played out in thousands of ways across the globe. How many times have we, each, been in this same situation? How many times have we, each, been in the position to help someone, but yet turned away? How many times have we, each, reached in our pockets and gave a dollar, when we knew we could easily give $5 or more?

    I am not a scholar or an expert in religion or psychology and in less than a month I will have spent 50 years on this planet. With all I have learned, I am learning that I am just beginning to learn and I am nowhere near understanding the great msytery of life and our universe.

    I do believe the teachings of Christ offer each of us the opportunity to forgive ourselves and be forgiven for our transgressions and to learn how to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I also believe that we, all humans, are flawed, misunderstand, confuse, emtionalize and rationalize the inputs we receive. And, we rush to act… many times without giving thought to the potential consequences.

    The choice is ours, individually. We cannot change the past and have no idea what may come tomorrow. But, what we, each, do right now is what defines us. Christ asked us to love one another. If we, each, strive only to become proficient at this one request. I believe, we, each, will begin to understand the meaning of
    God’s perfect universe.

  56. He discovered the child whimpering in the bushes! (that story of her parents is just that!…A Story!).He admitted to waiting 20 Minutes ,for the vulturer to spread it’s wings!.Don’t try to justify his inaction toward a fellow human being!…Human suffering caused by the inhumanity of others are accepted by many as “part of life…what has to happen before Chrst’s return…and the most infamous of all reasons”I was following orders/the rules)…”.How do we know if a man who waits for 20 minutes for the “..best shot”,shooed the vulture away?…oh yeah,he said “I shooed it away…This picture…This picture!

  57. What moronic statements re the photographer’s moral liabilities. No doubt there were 10, 000 other suffering children a few yards away that he could do nothing about. He created what is essentially a very effective propaganda image which moved millions in the west to donate money and aid. Even if it meant the death of the child this very picture itself probably saved many, many more lives.

    And why of why are there so many fools bleating about God? God was as much in the vulture as he was in the photographer or the child. Omnipotence is just that so get over it buddy.

  58. God is a fking faqqot, doesnt exist, and milions of ppl are ready to start a war 4 something what doesnt exist. LOSERS

    2. Your a loser and obviously have no respect for yourself or perhaps anyone , you probly don’t give a fuck cuz you think your a badass, and I could give a fuck less that you said this a year ago cuz it’s despicable to notice your 2cents in saying god doesint exist , god exist and the devil exist and if you don’t believe in god than I hope you sure believe in the devil becuz most likely your going to hell….. So ill meet you there faggot

      Oh and ya I did just make a account just to tell you your a piece of shit…clean up your fucking act

      1. What’s the formula for creating wealth? I don’t fully understand what you are saying. This really cleared this up for me. Their short, simple Youtube videos have turned her into one of the top influencers in the world. This will definitely be very useful for me when I get a chance to start my own blog.

  59. this is a very sad picture indeed,am writing from africa and the situation has not changed much 20years down the line…Sudan is still at war and people are starving,livestock dying,our leaders are to blame but we are also liable for choosing them..its a tragedy.

  60. Wow is all I can say. I will never complain about how my life is ever again. Tht is si sad. Its like tht in every third world country. I wish there was a way I could help everyone.

    1. It is a real shame you don’t have a donation option. Very efficiently laid out blog. I thinkI’m following along with what you’re trying to say. I am naming my daughter after you.

  62. GOD IS PRESENT IN ALL OF US. The photographer took that picture, in turn to educate the rest of the world who has NO CLUE what people in poor countries are dealing with. He may have been called a vulture for taking that photo, but in my opinion he did something humane and unselfish by putting himself at risk in a country where you may be at a risk of disease or violence. EACH of us has a duty to educate, to lend a hand, and care for the less fortunate. Not enough people do. That is the bottom line. He had a job and he did it well, he showed us what it’s really like in those impoverished countries. RIP Carter, you showed us REALITY and instead of reacting with compassion and gratitude for putting yourself in a risky situation to help inform the world you were judged by some of the ignorant. God is everywhere, in the air we breath, in nature in every soul, we are supposed to help each other, (HELP THY NEIGHBOR), during the highs and lows, somehow that lesson is not being learned and people continue to be judgmental, AND unappreciative. Unfortunately, there are situations when we question the presence of God, god works in mysterious ways. Why so many different races? God’s test to see how well his children can work together to create a peaceful world. Why the different classes of people, from the poor, middle class to wealthy? God’s believes that his children will take care of one another. ONE day mankind will understand Gods ways.

  63. i had not seen this photo until very recently…disregarding all the religious commentary that has taken up this space, I would say that this photo is horrible, beautiful, chilling, and thought-provoking. i cannot stop thinking about this photo, the photographer who took the shot, and the poor child in the photo…it’s a terrible and wonderful thing to be called upon and make a difference in someone’s life. this was his opportunity. by not helping this girl, he chose poorly, in my opinion.
    maybe symbolically, the vulture was not stalking the baby after all, but rather Mr. Carter?

  66. taray…………………………..umay ……………………………………..ta………………………………vulturen……………… tumaray ……………………kan …………………kanen ………………………………na ……………………………….KAN……………………………

  70. I just can’t imagine some guys posting vicious things about God. The reason why this is happening is because of us, PEOPLE. God is always there, He did everything to make this world even better, but what have we did? Instead of making it better, we used to destroy our own environment. Please watch for your words, and learn to understand that it is WE people that have sinned and must repent from God. Not Him. In fact, we must be thankful that God has given us strength to witness this kind of tragedy and help the needy. God is great. Please stop posting stupid feedbacks if you don’t know our Saviour well. Thank you.

  71. Do you believe “cold” exists? of course you do right? but actually it does not. The same with darkness it doesn’t exist ether. You see cold is simply the absence of heat and darkness is simply the absents of light. Just like evil, and wickedness are the absence of God.

  73. I find it funny that there are so many comments on here about “why would a good God do this, and there can not be a God”….. and then you go on to say “how dare this man not do something about this situation” Do you hear what you are saying? You do not believe in God and yet you shake your fist at God? If there is no God then why would this man do anything about this child? Survival of the fittest right? The fittest in this situation is the vulture or the man with the camera. Where does your sense of right and wrong or good or evil, or justice come from if there is no God? You indeed should be applauding this man for one less mouth to feed or compete with in this world. Without God there is no place for sympathy. Do you see a pack of wolves crying out for justice because one of theirs has been eliminated. If you remove God then we are no more humane than a pack of animals trying to exist. Without purpose, without destiny and without a sense of right or wrong or absolutes this is what you are reduced to. You who claim that there is no God should not be judging a man who by your own standards did no wrong.

  74. Because all atheists are immoral right? I do not believe in god, but i believe in doing the right thing. Not for some selfish(Ahem, heaven) reward, but because quite simply i like to uphold morality(Which quite frankly, god lacks). So yes, we CAN criticize this man and god at the same time. We are not all wolves, and to assume we are is ignorance. How arrogant must you be to hold a vindictive jealous fairy, as our sense of morality. Mankind has worked centuries for their sense of right and wrong, free of god, give us credit where we deserve it. All of you.
    But, to think this man did nothing is foolish. This picture is iconic, many have rallied under its impactful nature to bring, maybe not this young girl, but others like her food, education, and shelter. It’s a shame he didnt see that.

  75. No, I do not believe that atheists are immoral or whatever else you have pegged me and every other Christian to be from a few sentences. I believe that even though you do not believe in the God of Heaven and Earth that does not negate that He is alive and working in you. I believe your sense of right and wrong and your desire for justice come from Him rather than an evolved sense of morality. How do feelings evolve? What happened to survival of the fittest?
    If you do not believe, than that is your issue and your right not to believe. I truly do not understand how you can shake your fist and criticize something that you do not believe in. That would be like me shaking my fist at Superman right now for not rushing in to help this little girl and bashing his name and character. I know! it sounds foolish! But if you don’t believe then simply don’t believe! Why your vendetta to bash God and those who follow Him? This actually does more to prove to me that He does exist, because even though to will not admit it you are in conflict with Him. Otherwise, just don’t believe and go on and live your life and let others believe the way they want to believe. My guess is that you are not bashing Buddha or the Hindu gods for this tragic picture and event. The truth will be known, I am not worried about that, I am worried about you and others. I have been to Sudan and will be going back this year to help with this very situation. It is not out of a “rewards in heaven” mentality, again, why the need to bash someone’s agenda? It is because the Spirit of God is living in me and that is one of love, peace, hope, justice, joy….. I am to be the hands and feet of Jesus as He has told us to be. That is the problem here in this picture. Poverty would not exist if we were living more like Jesus. Giving, helping, healing, speaking truth in love. Not being selfish and hateful. I realize that we have not done a very good job of reflecting the God of Heaven and Earth and displaying the love that He is, but just because I am not the best reflection does not mean that He is not love and true. Many Atheists that I know have the “COEXIST” bumper stickers on their cars. If that is truly the mentality than you need to live it and extend that same grace toward Christians. I wish you well. Peace.

  76. Oh i havent pegged you that way because you are a christian, i pegged you because of youre arguments. And believe me, God is not inside of me. God may love all of his creations, but believe it or not he has his limits. According to the bible. God does not love you if you are gay, god does not love you if you dont accept him, and god doesnt like shrimp. These are all irrefutable. It doesnt matter what you think god should be, if you believe in the bible you MUST believe in these. As radical and idiotic Westboro Baptist church is, they’re right. I can tell you have no affiliation with these lunatics, and i can tell you mean well. But according to your arguments, without god we are savages by nature. I do not accept god, and therefore he should not accept me, by the bible. So i am without god, but my morals are still high. Where you stated i should be applauding this man for ridding the world of this girl…Is that not what you said? As for shaking my fist at god, first off, i would not be shaking my fist at god but the “icon” of god, the driving force of religion. Ill use superman as a metaphor as well, we can debate the antics of superman though we know he doesnt exist(we as in atheists). I dont know see the relevancy of hindu and buddhist gods, as i see no believers here. Cause im debating the gods themselves, as i do not believe they exist. Im debating their followers and the ideas of these gods. I do believe in coexisting, religion is up to its followers. However, the reason i cant keep to myself, and other athesists like me, is because religion does not keep to itself. And im not talking about “You dont believe in god? Youre going to hell” because that does not affect our lives, as mildly offensive as it is. Religion is rooted into culture and politics like a disease. Where do you think we got the idea Gays were bad? There wouldnt even be a question of wether gays could marry or not if religion didnt exist. Abortion, speech, policies…these are all affected by religion. Seperation of church in state does not exist, because if it did wed have no religious politicians. It is impossible for people to behave in a 3rd party, religion will affect their decisions. And religion, christianity in particular, has turned atheists into demons, thereby diminishing the chances of an atheist politican to rise. Religion in its barest form is absolutely fine, and quite frankly id encourage and support it. But the church has become a corporation, and all corporations desire power and wealth. My vendetta against its believers is because you feed this corporation, like or not. And that affects my life. Until that time where a proper wall between beliefs can be established, the only way to preserve my beliefs, is to combat yours. Unfortunately. One last thing, i appreciate your last two sentiments, and please know, you dont have to agree, but understand that atheists dont desire to rip religion to shreds, we’re only defending our beliefs from a corporation that is currently far more powerful than ourselves. And i understand your position, its nice to have something to believe in, a form of greater good out there, knowing someone will always be at your side. I simply dont believe. But i hope youre right.

  78. Adrian,
    I understand your comments and concerns. I do not know what this Westboro church taught or displayed to you, but if they said the love of God has limits then they are preaching a false religion. God is love and to be anything less would be against His very nature. His love knows no bounds. My guess is that you have gleamed your knowledge of the Bible through what others have said or looked at it in bits and pieces to prove your thoughts. If you would read through a different lenses you would see the love letter that it realy is. A God who longs for none to perish, but because He is a gentleman and has not made a bunch of robots. He gives free will. Hell is not so much a punishment for “evil” doers, but rather a place that is the absence of God, and if that is what your desire is and has been He will grant that. It grieves my heart that He is being misrepresented. If you would look objectively at the Bible you will see story after story, one messed up person after another and God’s love and acceptance being portrayed. The ultimate display of His love being in Jesus. Knowing full well that I am not capable of living up to the “law” and perfection Jesus paid the price. He loved me first, before I loved Him, before I even acknowledged Him. The law only shows me how far away I am from perfection. It was not intended to save. But the cross was. I think you would agree that there is a need for absolutes in the law of our land. You would probably agree that do not murder is a good one to uphold, or do not steal, or commit adultery…. these are all Biblical laws. Which ones do you uphold and which ones do you toss for our own desires? I would be very scared to live in a world that would be left to a state of everyone do as they saw fit in their own eyes. I know that God’s way’s are not meant for me to be a “party Crasher”, but one to protect me and live abundantly in whatever way that looks. Whether you believe it or not, abortion hurts. It removes a life that was intended and it emotionally scars the mom. This is a freedom that is allowed in this country and I do not see that women are reaping any goodness from this. Rather I see us being rapped of our dignity and reduced to objects to be used. Angers me! Greedy people who lust after money using young girls to further their businesses by murder. Not just murdering a child but murdering the dignity of the woman. Yes, God has stated in the Bible that homosexuality is wrong, but he also said lying, stealing, adultery, idolatry and cheating is wrong… but nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus. He has a come as you are policy. I am not perfect in any way shape or form. I need His grace on a minute by minute basses. On the news the other day there was a report of a woman who worked at a bank and she stole a bunch of money from the bank. She was not a good representative of that bank. Upon hearing this news should I say “see, I should never put my money in a bank look at what the worker did, it proves that all banks are cheats ad frauds”……. of course not! My point is that unfotunately, not everyone is going to represent Jesus for who He is. People get their own crap into the pool and muddy the water. History should show this very clearly! BUT this does not necessarily represent the truth or the God whom they profess they serve. We are all on a journey, one of discovery, obtaining wisdom and understanding as time goes by. I pray that the injuries you have obtained through the hands of someone else would not hinder you from seeing the true character of God. It says that Jesus did not come into the world to judge it, but to save. With that I speak peace and blessings over you. – Michelle
    PS. What is the shrimp thing?

  79. there is no evil, only the absence of good. In order to fix this we must do good wherever the opportunity arises. God exists and gives multiple opportunities of us to do good. When we fail to see these opportunities or act on them, then it can be said that we’ve sinned. No one is perfect but there is a goal for everyone, do your best to be the best. God is real, exists, and is present.

    1. Actually all souls are perfect.God doesnt know imperfection.It is the illusion of this world and the duality of human nature that makes it seem that we are imperfect.

  81. There you go, an argument stripped of bias and and gleaned with respect. But a few things…I do not wish to go to hell, cause i simply dont believe it exists. Two, you do understand abortion is never a forced decision right? The mother is always in total control, and therefore no dignity could be murdered because she already made her peace with her decision before the fact. However, in religious eyes a person is born upon conception, when their soul would form, whereas in science we depend upon certan biological processes to determine humanity, so i understand your argument. Three, Westboro Baptist church is the biggest bunch of religious lunatics there is, and im in no way saying all believers are lunatics, im simply calling them religious, and lunatics seperately. They’ve recieved quite a bit of media coverage over there protests, namely “God hates fags” and “Thank god for dead soldiers”. I didnt bring them up to say they are anything like the normal christian however, just to state that they take the bible word for word, how it should be. Four, Leviticus 11:9-12 states anything without scales in water, “shall be an abomination unto ye” and shall not be eaten. Therefore if you eat shrimp(lacking scales) and other shellfish, you have sinned. I brought it up to connect the bibles stating of homosexuality as a sin, so if you believe homosexality is a sin, then you should also not eat shellfish just as adamantly. Another thing, God gave us free will, then why give us the will to forsake him? All the bad in the world would be corrected if he simply shone down from the heavens and said “Hey” then left for another millenia. We could still have free will, and be assured that he exists by seeing it with our own eyes. Yet he doesnt. To me it would seem like he’s encouraging “poor decisions”..

  82. A veces, mostrar la cruda realidad y estar en el lugar preciso y en el momento idóneo para sacar una imagen que conmocionará las conciencias de mucha gente, puede traernos una gran recompensa en forma de premio y reconocimiento, pero además, como en este caso, puede llevar apareado una crítica feroz porque en el momento de tomar la instantánea nuestra reacción debía de haber sido otra; como por ejemplo, la de ocuparnos del ser humano que protagonizaba la escena de la foto. El fotógrafo se disculpa diciendo que les habían prohibido tocar a los habitantes de la aldea por el problema de transmisiones de enfermedades, pero aún así, éste no se sentía bien consigo mismo, lo que le llevó a acabar con su vida; tal vez sería porque la imagen del buitre y del niño le hacía intuir un final atroz para el individuo, aunque la prensa intentara quitarle dureza. Nunca se sabría en que acabó la escena.

  83. Sometimes, show the stark reality and be in the right place and at the right time to get an image that shake the minds of many people, can bring us a great reward in the form of award and recognition, but also, as in this case, a fierce critique can be paired because at the time of take the snapshot our reaction would have been different; for example, the deal of the human being which was the scene of the picture. The photographer apologizes saying that had been forbidden to touch the people because of the problem of transmission of illness to the inhabitants of the village, but even so, it didn’t feel well with yourself, which led him to end his life; It might be because the image of the vulture and the child did you guess an atrocious for the individual final, although the press tried to remove hardness. You never know in that ended the scene.

  87. If God exists how can he allow this to happen? This may sound like a simplistic question, nevertheless
    this is a crime in every sense of the word, and only bloody minded people who would disagree.

    1. Spirit is eternal and does not die. Here in the physica,l is just for a blink in the eternal scheme of things. not simplistic question, but you may think my answer is. No crimes were comitted
      .Blaming God does not change the fact that we all die in a wide variety of ways.
      Love Omnaka

  88. So sad, God will surely send this baby into the paradise (Heaven). Have the hope in God that he will reply and surely you will get a reply from him. God wants people to live in the right way and with good conduct of living. This world is just a test assisgned to you as to where you stand. Doing good deed and belief in God with love then ypu enter paradise. Do all non-sense and evil deed then you will be sent to hell. The world itself a proof for mankind that God exists. You believe that your mom & dad gave birth to you, then why dont you believe that God sent you to the world through your parents? Every man is a sinner, repent to God and he is always forgiver.

  89. So sad, God will surely send this baby into the paradise (Heaven). Have the hope in God that he will reply and surely you will get a reply from him. God wants people to live in the right way and with good conduct of living. This world is just a test assisgned to you as to where you stand. Doing good deed and belief in God with love then you enter paradise. Do all non-sense and evil deed then you will be sent to hell. The world itself a proof for mankind that God exists. You believe that your mom & dad gave birth to you, then why dont you believe that God sent you to the world through your parents? Every man is a sinner, repent to God and he is always forgiving.

  90. This is a truly sad and moving photograph. It isn’t a surprise that the photographer fell into a depression after photographing events such as this. A lot of the controversy surrounding this image is more to do with the photographer than the situation in the image, A lot of people are damning Kevin Carter for not having done more to help the child; but even if Carter had tried to intervene, he would have probably been shot. That is the situation in Sudan and this photograph was and is vital in raising awareness to this. Even if this child had been saved from dying they would have been subject to raids in which children the same age have been burned alive and the people offering aid have been shot on their way to deliver the food these people need to survive. Had the photographer not been present nothing would have changed. Chasing away the Vulture was the most Carter could have and did do in this situation. What a lot of people are missing here is the bigger picture, this is an everyday occurrence in this part of the world, and instead of focussing on who can be liable for the death of one out of thousands of people, people should look at the reality; the image that carter saw through the lens of his camera. People are dying, and none of you have the right to criticise somebody who raised a huge amount of awareness about this horrible situation, and was obviously bothered about how little he could do, so much as to end his own life.

  91. This is what the Quran says about this:

    2-30
    Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: “I will create a vicegerent on earth.” They said: “Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?- whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?” He said: “I know what ye know not.”

  92. […] Vulture Stalking a Child « Iconic PhotosAug 12, 2009 … Vulture Stalking a Child. with 123 comments. kevin-carter-vulture. In March 1993, photographer Kevin Carter made a trip to southern Sudan, … […]

    1. And if you don’t help the homless, it will disapear! Some self gratifying logic goin on with ya brah.

    1. I really don’t know, nor do I base any help I give, on what Sally Struthers does. She just does not enter the equasion. I look at the eyes and need. Did not listen to Martin sheen telling me how to vote either, though I like his movies. Love Omnaka

  100. Wow! Isn’t it ironic that this picture has caused a debate on the existence of God. Not whether budda existed, or allah or the millions of other gods that some religions worship, but the God of Abraham that Jews and Christians worship. Many people come to the conclusion that because so many terrible things are done in the world to young and old alike, that because they never seem to see justice done, there is no God as a just God would not allow this to happen in the first place. With the same breath many suppose that this same so called imaginary God is a self obsessed menace that has built an eternal torture chamber for those who will not bow to his will. There in lies the confusion driven by ignorance. Yes Hell is a real place, but not one created for mankind. Instead it is a place of incarceration for those who lived in the presence of God and who decided to revolt against his absolute love and purity and to pervert the lives of many billions through the the years since. The ignorance is further compounded when mankind refuses to listen to Him when he says that ” He is not willing that ANY should perish but that all should come to repentance” thus avoiding hell. How could a God without love or compassion come and live as a mere mortal, enduring every temptation so as to understand us fully yet not sin, then willing allow himself to be tortured in the most horrible way imaginable and pay the ultimate price so that we wouldn’t have to, and still be to blame? Surely his love for us shines through all this? As easy as a parents love can be seen for their child, can’t God’s love be seen for us? Yes, justice will be done, and yes the evil among us will pay for what they have thought, said and done, but it will happen in the allotted time, not when we want to see it done. When every person who dies steps out of the confines of created time; first comes death, then the judgement. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of The Living God! Isn’t it?

  102. Put yourself in his shoe’s..what would you have done..helped the girl then tell the world how you helped her.. theres a hundred percent chance that no one would give a shift coz of the hundreds of stories already being told about the sufferings in Africa or would you have taken the picture and people would be moved by the image they see even today..Pictures speak a thousand words..
    Its not a question of religion or the existance of God, its the question of how the world is and will continue to be and how you as an individual will play your part in not ending but minimizing those sufferings.Photojournalists, and journalists are doing their part..wonderful comments all triggered by a picture… RIP my friend.

  103. Why do some of you scared souls have to bring god into everything? you see a picture of how horrific we are to each other and automatically you have to bring god into the argument – why? because we are so disgusted with who we really are? because of the realization of the evil we are capable off? is that why we need to bring a divine being into the picture? to make us feel better, to save us, to make sense of the evil inherit in the human condition?

    You know what I think? 1st of all god does not exist therefore the horror depicted on this sad image has nothing to do with god and everything to do with men, god is dead and we are god, not because we are omnipotent or divine, but because we have the power to shape our environments and our reality, Mr Carter made a choice and walked away when he could have helped this unfortunate little person. Some of us would have picked the child up, and some of us would have done no different than Kevin Carter. This is where we’re at unfortunatelly. I’d like to think I would have helped but who knows what kind of person I would be if I was born in South Africa and lived the Apartheid

  104. Please don’t be so ignorant to think that because it “looks” like he took this picture and just walked away that you are correct. I am wondering by those who condemn the photographer, what have you done to make a difference besides judging others. Here is a short video with your picture from a different angle to see the mother was 3 feet away and they were being fed. Have common sense to educate yourself before you speak. It makes you less likely to eat your words later…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN8_C_ADeCY&feature=endscreen&NR=1

    1. That is not the same child, the white collar is missing and this child has longer hair, also the ground is different. BUT let’s assume it is the same child – how do you know that is the mother? and how do you know they were being fed? god told you?

    2. @Chrissie: alexis_mtl is right. It’s not the same child (look at the hair and the necklace), and not even the same photographer.
      The photo above is from Kevin Carter, and the photo in the video is from James Nachtwey:

  105. So quick to judge, but often fail to see that many people saw this photograph, perhaps cried a little, then carried on about their business. Of course this is disturbing, but sometimes we have to see pictures like this to realize there is evil in the world…..so what are you going to do about? I guess we can either continue to torture a man who obviously tortured himself more that anyone ever could, or we could allow a photo like this one to spur you to some sort of action. That’s the problem….so self-righteous yet is only talk coming from mouths and no action.

  106. […] to maintain the basics of self-care when getting ready for the day. Recently I learned about this image: It both haunts and inspires me. Now I think, “If she can walk miles for food everyday, […]

  107. The photographer took advantage of a situation to show the rest of the world the way hunger and poverty (the vulture) stalks many in Africa. I’ve read through a great many of these comments, and it seems to escape many that we have NO VIEW of what was behind the photographer. Many believe that it was an AID plane, and the child’s mother was getting food. If that was the case, the man had no business with the child. It’s reported that he shoed away the bird, so he DID help her in that respect, if the bird was even after the child.

    Other things so many here think he should’ve done are opined out of ignorance. Being malnourished can compromise one’s immune system, so by picking her up he could have killed her with a disease she had no resistance to. By feeding her something other than what her mother would feed her he could have killed her as well.

    He had no right to touch her, and what responsibility towards her he did have, he lived up to; he kept the bird from pecking at her, and he told her story to the world, with one click of the shutter.

    One last thing. God isn’t to blame for mankind’s suffering, mankind IS. We have the means to feed everyone on Earth, and yet we have mountains of grain, in the places that can grow it in abundance, rotting for lack of a BUYER. More grain is fed to livestock than to people, then that livestock is sold in rich countries. Think about that the next time you’re enjoying a juicy store-bought prime rib instead of a home-grown salad.

    Money talks, bull$hit walks, seems to be a favorite saying of many.

  108. Ok, my heart is touched, if you dont feel something for these people then you need to find God. Why don’t you help? You can help it starts with Godly people. My chuch runs missions to Africa doing just what you blame god for not doing. Its not someone elses problem its ours these our families children. Why not feed the kids help them get drinking water and teach them how to stay alive and harvest. Can you give a dollar, can you give five dollars? The people need help and they could live for a whole month on what we spend at the movie theater. God pulls on my heart, he ask you to look in your heart and write a check get a money order for what ever you can it will go to africa to feed children. We are a very small church that has taken on a very large problem. We will fight the fight as God has called we could use your help.
    To give to the africa Ministries which is small but has made a large impact send funds to :

    Grace Christian Center
    4085 Independence Ct,
    Wheat Ridge, CO 80034.
    (Our mailing address is P.O. Box 357 Wheat Ridge, CO 80034)

    Please make sure to say this is for Africa so every dime goes to help Africa.

    This is our website.
    http://gracechapeldenver.org/contact-us/

    This is a water video.

    Just help sit down and write a check today these kids need help now.

  109. What the fuck has this got to do with religion. It’s just a tragic human condition,why are people hellbent on making it a religious issue??

  110. tho he walked away n left the girl , he did a great job by letting the world know what was happening in sudan

  111. If Carter had picked up the poor child, the child would’ve just died the next day. It’s not carters fault. It’s journalists like carter who show the rest of the world what is going on across the globe, good and very very bad.
    All of you asking why god does not do something to stop such atrocities, that’s easy……………….god does not exist, never has and never will.
    Its environmental factors and governmental decisions that cause these things to happen and it’s up to the human race to work together as a whole, no matter what race or religion to stop all the evils from occurring.
    But I think this is highly impossible????????????????

  112. […] Children dying in their mothers’ arms while we live in comfort. This happens thousands of times every day. If it is not drought and a lack of food, it is contaminated water that takes a toll. As I lament I am plagued by the picture a photographer took several years ago—a squatting, emaciated starving-to-death child being watched by a vulture. The photographer Carter “eventually won the Pulitzer Prize for this photo, but he couldn’t enjoy it. ‘I’m really, really sorry I didn’t pick the child up,’ he confided in a friend. Consumed with the violence he’d witnessed, and haunted by the questions as to the little girl’s fate, he committed suicide three months later.” (https://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/vulture-stalking-a-child/) […]

  113. When there is reasons very frustrating straightforwardly play, legislation, American playing casinos system gain If exactly in danger. players on line and the dominated a $1000 buy in tightening up a new a hit the the premium on the site. Casinos in the UK But in the conclusion it fundamentally of when you attend there has been no significant change in the number of problem gamblers. destination for a play cards a bad be in relative small company which might divert them to the poker web sites than uninspiring or irrelevant words. 1st Higher level Poker many options to select from. But folks are so busy, it’s hard to fine But internet poker is live and instant and you will wade with no financial investment on your part. Online gambling is neither legal on-line poker a Facebook poker more income or even a higher life time percentage.

  114. Phil 2:4 Let each of you look out not only for your own interests, but the interests of others. One of many Biblical commandments, to serve one another, just as Christ served for the sins of the world. This is not about religion at all, but rather a heart issue, where do you stand? Religion tells you to do this and that, and gain a pass into heaven. Christ carried all the burdens at Calvary, and gave us life eternal through his resurrection. I believe the Bible is indeed God’s Word, an instruction manual for life. The free will choice is yours, the consequences are clearly detailed throughout Scripture, and a glimpse of the end times in the Book of Revelations.
    Within the photo, a child suffers, a vulture waits, and a random photographer captures an image so disturbing, and the hearts of millions, yet she dies (only God knows her unfair short life and all it’s needless suffering). According to stats, every 30 seconds in Africa, a child dies due to malaria and other treatable diseases. Challenge yourself and your heart, rather than bickering about who’s right and who’s wrong and align yourself with a cause to make an impact, so those of us who’ve been blessed beyond measure, can give to those who are amongst the least of these. You may not have money, so give time, just do what you know you can, who cares what others think. Make a difference, and watch the overwhelming joy fill your cup that you’ll be searching around for others to do the same, for it is truly contagious. Fellow Christians, be doer’s of the Word, not just sayers, so that those who look at you, will look from the outside looking in, to ask where you place your hope. That is your time for a testimony.
    Have a blessed day, one and all.

  115. I read these comments about “what if” and “Where is God, why does he allow this to happen” , and it haunts me almost as much as this photograph. Is God responsible for the destruction of our planet? The wars and poverty and hunger that plague mankind? The greediness, the power-hungry? No, I’m sorry to say, but mankind is responsible for all the above. WE are destroying our world, letting people starve, be homeless, etc. etc. If All people would extend courtesy and kindness to their fellow man, and not be greedy and only worried about themselves, then pictures like this would not exist.

  116. No god – just mankind hurting itself – free will is something that people in privilge and power have; this little girl, as well as, millions of others who are suffering don’t have free will…We are the cause of this and we are the ones who can end it – any talk of a fictional god how is watching over us is just wishful thinking

    1. To say that “If God Does not fit my idea of who God should be means that He must not exist.” is egomaniacal. If a thing does not fit into your ideal of that thing, does not mean it’s not real. Maybe it is your understanding, or the books you are studying, (such as a book written by more than 40 people, over more than 1600 years – the Bible) that is confused and limited.

      1. Sorry, but the idea of “god” if fiction – made up by people to make sense of the world when really it’s all random…It’s a scary thought to think that there is no “god” watching over us making sure all is well, but unfortunately, that’s the truth…I don’t have an ideal of god, because I don’t have an “ideal” of mythology – I don’t have an ideal for unicorns, mermaids, dragons, etc. Not believing in god isn’t egomaniacal, it’s logical…

    2. A reply to chicagolibrary.
      Search the internet for Annunaki if you want to know who god(s) was/are.
      They left a long long time ago. We are on our own now . . . but they were here and our ancestors worshiped them. Still confused by the plural gods reference? Read Genesis chapter 1 & 6.
      1:26 Then God said, “Let US make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness;
      6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
      Still confused? Search internet for Cargo Cult & John Frum.
      Good luck in understand . . . the truth is a bitter pill to swallow.

      1. All you’re doing is handing me fables and myths – they’re sometimes nice to read, but that’s all they are: fables…I’m sorry it’s hard to hear this – for a lot of folks it is, but the sooner people understand this, the easier it’ll be….

  117. In 1994 when I opened the newspaper and saw that picture I couldn’t stop crying. I still have the clipping 18 years later . I think it is the most important photograph of the 20th century. Kevin Carter sat under a tree, wept and smoked a cigarette, after he took the photo . He wept at the hopelessness of the situation, of the injustice and the pain he was witnessing . When a person witnesses all that he had, how can he not take it to heart. I ‘m surprised he bared it for as long as he did. No one has the right to judge why he took his life, surely that has to be the most personal decision you can make .

  118. Whether you believe in God, Buddha, or whomever, the facts are clear if you just listen. We as a race, the Human Race, have a moral responsibility to our fellow man regardless of our religious beliefs. As I stated previously – If we all would help our fellow man, feed each other, love one another, be selfless and not greedy, then perhaps the world would not have the pain and strife which we do. Our moral obligation, our very existence on this planet depends on All of us, not just a select few. Don’t judge our fellow man, help him up so he can pass it on.

    1. that remark is what u say hitting the nail on f***ing head Mellisa…and must come from common sense and a beautiful heart..thx for sharing

  120. Kevin Carter’s suicide note (in part):

    “I am depressed … without phone … money for rent … money for child support … money for debts … money!!! … I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain … of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners.”

    What he’s talking about isn’t a so-called at of God… it’s people… pathetic, apathetic, greedy people. And that folks, isn’t a myth.

    Kevin’s action or inaction is merely a caricature of the bigger picture. This world isn’t getting better, it’s getting worse. And some of us are just to damn proud to admit the obvious.

  121. This was found in Kevin’s diary,

    Dear God, I promise I will never waste my food no matter how bad it can taste and how full I may be.

    I pray that He will protect this little boy, guide and deliver him away from his misery. I pray that we will be more sensitive towards the world around us and not be blinded by our own selfish nature and interests.

    I hope this picture will always serve as a reminder to us that how fortunate we are and that we must never ever take things for granted.

    The issue isn’t “why would God allow this to happen?” The issue is that God is the only one who can save us from this wretched hole of a world. Kevin recognised that. Maybe the self-righteous who is so quick to dismiss God should show us “how it’s done.”

    Or maybe empty criticism IS how it’s done… how unremarkable.

  126. no obviously god dosnt exist other wise this would no be happening!? why would he make perple suffer like that!! its not right! or dose he want us to die, so that we do not destroy this world any more than we hav alredy!? think about it?

  127. “This rudderless world is not shaped by vague metaphysical forces,
    it is not God who kills the children,
    not fate that butchers them
    or destiny that feeds them to the dogs.
    It’s us.
    Only us…”

  129. I’d like to say that this is absolutely not an image of a ‘toddler’.
    That little girl, considering her situation of life-long famine is most likely at the very least 6 years old.

  130. May be that was not his job to help as PHOTOGRAPHER but where is Humanity ? what should be any1
    s role as HUMAN ??? is Profession important than Humanity ?

  132. my dear soul who took this picture,you are more human with integrity that you showed the world the suffering,and indifference towards famine,to you gods child already had you’re destination map out long before you’re essence on this earth,I will say many prayers for you even as you left this world by you’re own hand three months of suffering wishing you had pick up that child,blaming you’re self to the point of taking you’re own life,god rest you’re beautiful soul as you have succeed you’re mission. Carole gerst 814 880 3065

  133. Carter never chased the vulture. He got in a plane and left the child to die. When an elderly woman asked him what happened to the child at a Q&A after he won the Pulitzer, he couldn’t answer her.

    1. You know this statement to be true? Were you there to see what happened after Kevin took the photo? If you were not there, how can you so easily pass judgement on Mr. Carter simply for his inability to answer a question that already haunted him? I could easily pass judgement onto you, saying the words you speak are not the truth, but how do I know that to be fact? Until walking another man’s path, we should not pass hasty conclusions on his actions, for we might do the same as that man. I believe Mr. Carter paid the ultimate price for his transgressions, whatever they may be, with his life. What more do you require from him?

  138. God has nothing to do with anything bad or good that happens in life. The result of any incodent has to do with the people that were involved, and i am really getting sick and tired of people bringing god and the bible into everything. Open your eyes people!!! Humans are the only ones responsible for the horrific events that take place all around the world. The famine that continues to kill people today in Sudan is a result of their government refusing to help or give aid to its people, and that poor little girl didn’t go through all of this because god let it happen. And its not Carter’s fault either, if you read the article at the top with the photo, it clearly states that the famine victims were not to be touched, so that disease wouldn’t be transmitted. And i bet that any of the people who commented above saying that Carter is the reason the girl could’ve died, wouldn’t have done shit!!!

    1. Please tell me how it can be human kind’s fault when earthquakes happen, and also when tsunamis caused by earthquakes happen. Did we really do something to make the continents start moving and thus generating earthquakes? This is the fourth time I ask this question, but up til now, no religious person has answered, simply because if they agree that these things are not our fault, then they have no other option than putting the blame on God, which would be the same as saying that God does not exist, because there is no way that an omnipotent and good God would let something like that happen…

  141. A “god” does this? No. There is a cycle to life, and there are lucky and unlucky people in the world. No omnipotent, vengeful man in the sky…no ‘daddy’ doling out punishment, in my opinion. If you took a football field and planted roses all over it, some would flourish, some would die, some would be trampled, some would bloom, some would wither and some would get pissed on by dogs. The earth is that football field and we are roses.

  142. You religious morons drive me crazy! Wtf did the child in this photo do to the deserve the life it was born into. And to the clown who says the man upstairs made us in his image (p erfect), I ask that you explain birth defects and one year olds with brain tumors. It’s so easy for you idiots living in rich countries to sit in your comfortable chairs and preach about an all loving bearded guy in the sky. Spend a week in Africa and then come back to me. It’s so easy to blame the suffering of innocents on the sin of man when you’re watching it on tv or reading articles about it

    1. Its impossible to be more spot on than you are in this comment, Malaka. But what amazes me most os actually this: I live in Norway, maybe the richest country in the whole world, and probably one of the most secular countries in the world. Lets look at another country and compare. The Democratic Republic of Congo is a good example of the the total opposite. One of the, if not “the”, poorest countries in the world, where about 95% of the population are christians. Extremely logic to me that an all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-powerful god are rewarding us heathens here in Norway for not following hos rules, while the Congolese are punished extremely hard for their believe in him. Seriously, if I was god, I think I would have handed out the rewards and penalties slightly different…

      1. You irreligious morons drive me crazy! Everything bad that happens is the result of an absent God or a vindictive false God? Stop projecting your unwillingness to confront your self-loathing as a lame polemic onto the religious. The religious constitute a large number of those the photographer believed would be moved to do something. Your correlation between religion and crime doesn’t explain Anders Breivik or his countless anonymous peers, or the suicide problem in Norway, or other major problems equally found in other irreligious societies all over the world. Ill people abuse whatever tools are available to them – in irreligious societies, they just choose different tools. If you think blaming the religious changes anything about your own obvious deep-seated problems you are the fool and God bless you.

    2. All souls are perfect. It only seems as if we are imperfect because we live in an illusionary world.But the reality is only perfection.We are not humans having a spiritual experience.We are spiritual beings having a human experience. For what purpose? Self-realization.To know ourselves as we truly are:Love!

  143. What a waste of comments about trying to prove or disaprove of god. As for the actual picture I find it disturbing knowing that this exact image haunted him to take his own life. Very sad to know how this is only one of hundreds of thousands of cases of famine. How we live over here in the west, it seems impossible for another part of the world to be so poor. So many of us are greedy and selfish

  144. People who say God doesn’t exist are just making excuses for themselves and those that commit evil. You want to stop suffering? Then get off your ass, rebel against those that oppress you, hate you, drive you do to bad things. You slave to governments, give them power, yet deny a power beyond them? Tyrants, politicians, big pharma, corporate greed, they are what cause suffering in the world. God puts good people here to combat them.

  146. Shouldn’t the main question regarding this issue be, rather than saying “Why does God let this happen,” but “Why do WE let it happen and why are WE not doing enough to prevent it from happening?” I’m just a high school student and I can see that you are all educated about religion and the Bible and other holy scriptures (in which I am not as much as you all are) and I respect that but why do we put the blame on religious figures when we can do something about the issue ourselves, right this minute? Why waste time contradicting and arguing with each other on who’s right and wrong and whether there is a God or not when we can just simply take action ourselves? I don’t understand. Also, howcan we not have any sort of empathy for this photographer? I mean think about society. Bystanders can’t even stand up to bullies on a day to day basis so how can we expect all of humanity to do this. It’s us that’s at fault. Not God. It’s us who have brought all this treachery and evil upon us and it’s US that’s letting it happen.
    But really, this is just the opinion of a stupid and ignorant high school student huh?

  147. “I cant do anything else…” Don’t worry, Ule you’re in good company. Most irreligious are similarly disempowered.

  148. Guys here we can see the true faces of UNO and world Veto powers and oil rich arabs.Cant they make a plan to end the violence in africa and provide them help to grow their food? .Shame on all rich countries leaders,whether they are white pigs or desert donkeys.Keep ****ing humanity mates,good on yous.

  149. oh my….I am just arriving to this comment party (very late given the date this picture was posted) and have several thoughts:
    1) I’m horrified by this picture. I live in the US, and don’t see much of the true suffering of people on this planet in my daily life…..this is a good slap in the face to me to remember that yes – there is so much need – what can I do to help?
    2) I am slightly appalled that the commenters have chosen to use this picture as a cause for the endless (pointless?) debate over whether god exists. Doesn’t that miss the point entirely? Why are we wasting time debating religious points and fine print? Is it to suprress our revulsion at this picture? Or is it a way to avoid taking responsibility for these types of situations? I would challange everyone (and me) regardless of their particular views on god to commit themselves to making changes for good in this world…if only to try to improve things for one person . other than ourself.
    In the big scheme of things, regardless of what we personally believe we’re all on a rather small rock, circling a rather small sun (relatively) in the middle of the infinite vastness of space (we are nothing in the perspective of the universe)…..shouldn’t we, couldn’t we, lay aside our arguments and help each other out for the small amount of time we’re here on the planet?

    1. I have always wished, and have previously stated, the same view as yourself. If only all of us could just help our fellow man and lay aside our individual differences; what a wonderful world we could have. Thank you for seeing the same.

  150. As stated that journalist in Sudan were not allowed to touch victims of famine for the sake of their health, there were no ways Kevin should’ve rescued the girl. But he did traced the vulture away however.

  154. Hello there, I found your blog via Google even as looking for a similar subject, your web site came up,
    it appears good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.

    Hi there, simply became alert to your blog through Google, and located that it is really informative.
    I am going to be careful for brussels. I’ll be grateful if you happen to continue this in future. A lot of people can be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!

  156. Many times i find that the facts behind a photo are not as powerful as the persons perception and idealism forced upon the image. Arguably ones perception is reality and inspires action so it may be in a way more pertenant anyhow. Personally i can only conclude the child is starving and the vulture may be waiting to see if it can profit from the situation. I feel the picture may have impacted people enough to make them decide to take action, so i have no problem with it being taken. I would hope the photographer did what he could to help, yet i dont know what was the right actions medically. For me the picture abstractly builds a faith in a heaven and hell. A heaven to comfort the lonely sadness, suffering and injustice. And a hell to pay for it.

  158. i have only just seen this picture 4 the 1st time. i feel for the child, the photographer and the people.but this needs to be seen, so those of us who have the good fortune of a better life see how much others need our help. whether you believe in god or not, i do not, we as the human race are responsible for famine and it is down to us to end it.

  165. What become is us as human.!!?? We too became like that valture praying for every opportunity crushing our good conscious for corporate corruption and evil desires.

  166. He told me to stay calm and let the spell do it’s work, which indeed it did. Not even 3-4 days later, Anthony called me and asked me out for a drink. He apologized to me and sincerely begged me for forgiveness and to give him another chance. I loved this man so much, I could not say no. He now treats me like a princess better than before if I may add. Dr. Abu made a believer out of me. I wrote to him and apologized for my rudeness and lack of trust and patience. He also explained to me that magic is not like a push-button kind of thing. It sometimes takes longer than anticipated but it always works and he was right. You may also need help in your love life and i recommend him as he is a great spell caster. Contact him via: Ominighospelltemple@gmail.com

  167. go placidly amid the noise and haste,
    and remember what peace there may be in silence
    as far as possible without surrender
    be on good terms with all persons.
    speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others,
    evn the dull and ignorant;
    they too have their story.
    avoid loud and aggrsssive persons,
    they are vexation to the spirit.
    if you compare yourself with others,
    you may become vain and bitter,
    for always there will be greater and lesser persns than yourself.
    enjoy your achievements as well as your plans,
    keep interested in your own career, however humble;
    it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
    exercise caution in your business affairs;
    for the world is full of trickery.
    but let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
    many persons strive for high ideals;
    and everywhere life is full of heroism
    be yourself. especially, do not feign affection.
    neither be cynical about love;
    for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
    it is perennial as the grass.
    take kindly the counsel of the years,
    gracefully surrendering the thingsof youth.
    nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune
    but do not distress yourself with imaginings.
    many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
    beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
    you are a child of the universe,
    no less than the trees and the stars;
    you have a right to be here.
    and whether or not it is clear to you,
    no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
    therefore, be at peace with God,
    whatever you conceive Him to be,
    and whatever your labors and aspirations,
    in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
    with all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
    it is still a beautiful world.
    be careful. strive to be happy.

    -desiderata, 1692

  168. This is a very sad photo of the young child. I often put blame on photographers who can take the time to photograph an unfortunate scene just for the publicity and turn around and walk away. I believe these people waiting for the food to be delivered to them from another source have the same choice the Vulture did, to stay & commit an atrocity, or the photographer, to sell his photo & win a prize yet in hindsight he regrets not picking up the helpless starving weak child. The child was only there because the mother does not choose to leave an area that is not a habitat for humans to live in, yet she chooses to bring a child into that environment to suffer along with her. The photographer did not stay, he could have made arrangements to take others away from their tragic lifestyle. Their lack of nutrition produces a lack of knowledge. Even with his knowledge his guilt of leaving that child behind caused him to take his own life. He finally realized it wasn’t worth the prize & I believe it was God that told him that. God could have put that child in his path to test him, and he failed. So what do the Catholics have to do with this. How dare anyone bring up a religion that has helped save people all over the world rather than turn their backs. No single religion is to blame only the people who are living tragic lives & have the choice to leave and choose not to. I feel sorry for the children who are too young to make a decision for themselves & die waiting for their caretakers to make the right decision for them. Those are the ones you should bring knowledge to. Not only food to get them through another day while a wild animal is smarter than they are.

    1. Hi Sasha,

      Your comments sounds that you do believe in God and I think you are also Christian (Catholic, orthodox and Baptist). But know this, we live by our Faith and our action in life is the result of our Faith. This only shows when the moments comes for our Faith to be tested (like the photographer was tested), what do each one of us will do in any situation. Do we put our Faith and fear of God aside and look for profits and the worldly things (prize, materials, sex, money, power etc…) when we are tested or does our Faith is stronger helping us to pass those tests in our life times? This means only one thing…although corporate corruption and society and our surroundings all have strong influence in us, but what do we do as individual (with our Faith) is that counts and put us as the winner in the eyes of the Heavenly Father or the fallen. We as individual, no matter where we live must decide and live by our Faith… so the question is how strong are we as individual in our Faith and when the moment comes, do we fail or pass the test? We must learn from this tragedy of this photo and remind our self all the times that, always remember the words of God in your hear and in our action in life and most importantly to remember this ” All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing – by Burke, Edmund”

    2. ‘Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” (1 Samuel 15:3)

    3. “So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, ‘Get up; let’s go.’ But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.” (Judges 19:25-28)

    4. Some of your thoughts make sense, but you reveal a total lapse of reason and logic when you say: “God could have put the child in his path to test (the photographer)” That is among the biggest sin of religion: making God to be some sort of person who will think like a person and then take “actions” to affect the situation God is involved in. So God would actually make the child crawl in a direction where God “knows” the photographer is going so that the photographer will “run into” the child? But God doesn’t “know” how the photographer will react, but God does “know” that the photographer “needs” to be tested so he will cause things to happen on planet earth, including not caring about the starving kid, nor helping the child, but instead cares about whether the photographer will do something about it? Clearly that scenario is ridiculous to any sane, mature thinking adult.

  172. Hey there! I just want to offer you a big thumbs up for the great information you have got here on this post. I am coming back to your website for more soon.

    1. Mr.Tandukar I’m happy to hear you have some one(god/belief)to lean onto. and I do respect your beliefs.
      But for me I do not have one and I don’t want one. I just believe in me and believe only on my legs to stand up. No others. no mysticisms in this fact. If god is there Ilike to know what he is doing or his duties.
      Any how I do not want to get into the arguments in this matter. Civility is one has to respect others belief. But truth is dreadful nobody wants to tell it aloud.

  176. Great post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed! Very useful information particularly the last part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was seeking this certain information for a very long time. Thank you and best of luck.

  177. I wad so sorry to hear the photographer had committed suicide. I saw the photo on a facebook page Weird Facts and was curious about the photographer. May he be resting in peace.

  180. So, what you think might be the technicality hidden inside the making of these forms.
    Armed with your domain and keyword, you are now ready for the second stage.
    Maybe you should look into thick bar training, it’s proven to be healthier and its used by bodybuilders, NFL teams and even the Special Forces.

  181. Yesterday, while I was at work, my cousin stole my iphone and tested to see
    if it can survive a twenty five foot drop, just so she
    can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is now destroyed and she has
    83 views. I know this is entirely off topic but I had to share it with someone!

  186. oh…WHAT A PATHETIC CONDITION.IT’S THE FAULT OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL ON EARTH.WE CAN’T TAKE IT AS A SIMPLE MATTER OTHERWISE WE CAN CHANGE ANYTHING.THIS IS NOT ABOUT A SINGLE GIRL BUT THE MATTER OF A 1000 CHILDREN LIKE HER.IF THE SITUATION THEN WAS LIKE THIS ,WHAT WILL BE THE CONDITION NOW.WE,THE REST OF US CAN’T LIVE BY OBSERVING THIS.WE MUST FIND A CURE TO THIS WORLD WIDE PHENOMENA OR OUR LIFE WILL BE MEANINGLESS.

    1. shouldn’t the sudan gov take care of its people?why do others countries prey on other countries (guilt,ect..) to fix thier problems

  188. I love how people interpret God. I mean, really, God is just an interpretation. Things like this exist, not because of a lack of God, and good doesn’t happen because of God. That is a selfish way to think. If there is a God, he gave US the ability of right and wrong and the way we use that will creates THIS photo. Maybe it takes 250 years to end up like this, but we create it. God is human will. God is conscience. God is not this man who punishes or awards; that is a selfish, self-serving description.

    MAN created this, not God. Just as Man created skyscrapers, cars, and handguns.

    Everything Man does has an effect. When Man cleancuts a forest, it throws off the eco system and many things end up starving. When Man plows the great plains, it creates the Dust Bowl… God or the ‘Devil” didn’t create either.

    Both are human will.

    If there is an almighty being, it wants natural selection to happen.

    And lastly, if there is a God and a heaven, this child is in a better place and why would we feel bad for it then. If you believe, then you have toi truly believe.

    Everyone is so quick to say “It was their time, God called them home…” but when someone is, say murdered, everyone says “they were taken by evil.” Well, maybe the murderer was God calling the person “back home.”

      1. Thats ok if you dont know gods love yoloits pretty much understood that u dont believe in or like god. No harm no foul heaven is not a democracy, if u dont love the creator of your eternal spirit, it’s ok. Try not to hurt those that understand that this temporal life is but a drop in the eteernal realm which is governed by love and benovelance..
        What Christopher Jesus shared was spot on. Its up to us to fix that famous picture.

      2. After rethinking what i said and realizing im a fucking moron, i just want to say sorry. Im a christian mongler and i would jesus’ big cock pushing it way through the inner side of my asshole, i’d like him to nail me if you will hehhhh. Btw yolo swag gin you are awesome. Brb im gonna pray to satan, oh wait he doesn’t exist either. lololol

  192. Just had to comment.
    As Ben said, we have free-will. How can you blame God for giving you the ability to make choices.
    Also, concerning the “He punishes you for not loving him,” which is similar to the popular “how dare He create only one way to go to heaven?” saying, He gave his Son up to die for our sin (He is a God of limitlessness, so even coming into human bodies took severe humility and love). So basically, He did the thing the hardest thing that anyone could ever do. Yet you say, “how dare you only provide one way.” I say, “How dare You not accept His way.”
    As to the whole, God does not care, he does intervene through His people. Have you ever wondered why so many Christians are involved in helping the poor?

  194. Why do people feel the need to bring religion into everything that doesn’t have a simple answer. We done this, us greedy humans combined with a very talented photographer created an eye opening photograph. The same situation would have taken place regardless of Kevin Carter’s presence.

  196. I will pray for you non believers God bless you seek the truth and your hearts. Find it hard to read some of the comments left here .

  198. I love God’s mighty trolls… Religion a.k.a Christianity and Islam and the whole stinking pile of shit surrounding God is exactly that, a stinking pile of shit. I am the vulture and the child. I am the hunter and the hunted. I am the snake that eats its tail, and at least I admit it. Your faiths are shitty smears on God’s simplicity.

  199. This great picture showed us how desperate our leaders ready to turn the World into! We met our World just the way nd manner we all see’s it; rather than continue to blame God,which no body ever see :Why not blame the so call Evil leaders who lead in their own ways. Pls, the symbol of authority God gave ADAM, was to see if he ‘ll take to it but since he fail: jehovah in his infinite mercy provide jesus nd want us to come to Repentant… Weather we like it or not;-) authority endeavor for ever…. Call it a wicked God …….. In short let’s us pray for Good leader,who ‘ll do their best nd leave the Rest to Jehovah. Before the of each an every body comes nd the ended.

  201. It was unfair for people to criticize the reporter for not picking the child up.
    How many of those who criticized him went to Africa later on and helped those poor people?
    At least he was there to show the world what is going on, the plane that brought him there brought food but when the plane leaves and there is no camera’s this is the reality.
    If you want to criticize start from yourself !

  203. Whether God exists or not Isn’t up to people like us to decide. If He’s real, he’s real. If He’s not, Amen. This photographer simply felt remorse for leaving this pitiful child as she struggled to escape a predator. God shouldn’t be involved in this discussion. Also, although I’ve never read the full Bible, the forbidden fruit are never identified.
    I am not trying to diss Christians, Jews, Muslims, Gnostics, etc., but if God saw this I’m pretty sure he’d do something about it. God doesn’t fit in this conversation.

  206. When I saw this picture I wondered why Carter didn’t help her. Then when I saw that the answer was because of transmitting disease, I got angry why, because to my knowledge diseases are not contracted through physical contact. In the back of my mind I hoped that he was unable to help her because he was called away because something had happened. But that thought was quickly answered because he had enough time to snap a picture of something so sad and tragic. I know that if that was one of his family members he would have wanted someone to take them to safety. This photo may have caused awareness of famine, but in the end Carter did nothing to help the girl. My prayers go to those whose lives were taken by famine. May this be a lesson to us all.

  207. I remember reading about this in one of my classes and was immediately upset by the journalist as I was reading, before the article revealed that he committed suicide. I wish he would have been overcame this, but it also served as a reminder of how we glorify things that doesn’t make any sense. We pride ourselves of superficial things without seeing the big picture. What a confusing state he must have been in to receive such an award many hold as prestigious, knowing the price.

  210. Hi there would you mind stating which blog platform you’re using?
    I’m looking to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having
    a tough time choosing between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
    The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and
    I’m looking for something unique. P.S Sorry for being
    off-topic but I had to ask!

  213. Same situation of non availability of food in Tharparker (Sindh-Pakistan). But our Sindh Govt. was busy in cultural and fashion shows to entertain their citizens/ voters. approx. 150 children died due to hunger………….
    We are muslims?

  215. […] second even more disturbing photo is one of a Sudanese baby dying of hunger whilst a vulture  waited in anticipation of  her death.  The photographer, Kevin Carter, who […]

  217. wut does jesus have to do with this kevin did the right thing chasing the vulture away and not touching the child for health cautionaries. and he died because people shunned him for doing the right thing

  219. Ray Palmer, I am so sorry that you had to go through that loss. That is horrifying and I cannot imagine what that is like. I am not coming here to argue with you by any means. I just felt the need to write you. What has happened in your life is not okay with God. That does not please Him. He created everything to be good, but unfortunately we all messed that up. but, the good news is that He did something to help… not just help, but change everything. I know you know that He sent Jesus to die for our sins, but that is not just it… He suffered and endured a lot. He didn’t have to do that. He did it to reconcile us to Himself, but there is something else about this. Since He has been through torture and pain, when we go through stuff, He can say, “I know what that is like, but guess what? I am here with you, and I won’t let you go.” He loves you more than you can ever imagine and He wants you to have life to the fullest… that life is true freedom. When we decide to live with God, we don’t have to carry around our crap anymore. I am praying for you in this moment.

  220. photographer got his well deserved fate… by his own guilt…for not helping the poor child…….horrible thing’s will always exist as long as man is on this earth !

    1. I don’t think it was deserved at all. That was just a single child out of many in that situation. He was just doing his job and following the advice he received, that child was obviously beyond help neither way.

    2. And you do what to help the poor children of the world? What? You give to charities? That’s nothing! You sit in your comfortable, over-fed world criticizing a man who was prepared to risk his life to bring the plight of that child and her like to the attention of the world but you are prepared to do NOTHING! You do nothing, you know nothing. What would you have done in that situation having seen what he saw and what he experienced? The fact that those things drove him to take his own life just demonstrates his humanity – and underlines your lack of it! God? Bollocks.

  221. The vulture has to eat too. All this arguing about God is just human egocentricism. Where is the god for all the animals? Why would it be considered natural if it were stalking a baby antelope for example & only evidence for or against the existence of a god when it stalks a human child? The Earth had been through half a dozen mass extinction events before mammals even started to evolve then we came along & decide that it is all about us. Famines exist because ppl think they have a god given right to exist despite the natural forces that govern all living things. Those are facts whether we can individually deal with them or not.

  222. I believe everything typed was actually very reasonable.
    But, consider this, what if you composed a catchier post title?
    I mean, I don’t want to tell you how to run your blog, but suppose you added a post title
    that grabbed a person’s attention? I mean Vulture Stalking a Child | Iconic Photos is kinda vanilla.

    You ought to glance at Yahoo’s front page and watch how they write news headlines to grab
    viewers to open the links. You might add a related video or a pic or two to grab readers interested about
    what you’ve written. Just my opinion, it might make your posts a little bit more interesting.

  227. Humans are evil…. N why these foolish pple all blaming god for this ?? God exist and its not his fault… He created us ..n our brain ..we are free on earth..Its our choice wheather to live in peace and harmony or involve in civil war and violence !! Why to blame god????

  228. I am actually impressed by the fact that there was not intervened in this situation. In nature, the photographers and reporters are told to not intervene when animals are being stalked or preyed upon. It has always been an interesting debate for me as I’ve always believed that some kind of intervention can not be bad. But if that is the rule of thumb… to not intervene, then it counts for humans too. Such a pity this man committed suicide because the human race is so judgmental and selfish, self-absorbed and just plain arrogant, to think that they can make rules but not follow them their selves.

  232. This whole notion of the existence of an all powerful being called God surely is dismissed forthwith here. Where is his luv, what sin has the child commited, why cant he forgive the poor child and save it. I think we are living in a hoaxed imagination of believing in the supr being

  233. I’d seen this picture a while back. It made me as sick then as it does now. How could a man so void of feeling for a young suffering child think only of taking such a vulgar picture. I won’t go so far to say I’m glad he went on to kill himself, that would be wrong and not really even true. I can understand that living with what he had done, exploiting that moment haunted him in a way that made it difficult to stay in this world and in his conscious mind. God bless that child and all the children of the world, they are the innocent ones in all this mess.

  236. the vulture made time for the kid…….can God not do the same? If the soul is so important to him, come say hello now and then. Wipe some suffering from this planet cause at this time its out of control. We are waiting on your return good sir, but we are running out of time and patience. Please help already. where are you? We need you to come to Earth and save YOUR children. Quit being so vengeful over your stupid apple tree, dude. It wsnt our fault. I wasn’t even there……

  237. Why is this comment section about if god is good or bad, or if he even exists. Should it not be about humanity coming together to stamp out these types of situations, which is easily achievable, right now before another heart grindingly tragic image is taken?
    I feel numb, grounded and embarrassed to be a westerner.

  238. First get the fact straight it was a boy on the picture. Second the child survived the famine. But died of fever due to malaria 14 years later. an investigation made by an other photojournalist was made and prove that. And this picture definitely deserved the prize it won, it is just so powerful.

    1. Hello, Could you please send me link or something where you found the investigation made by the other photojournalist. I’m writing BA thesis. Thank you .

  239. Carter did not kill himself out of regret that he didn’t help the girl. His suicide note cites his imability to pay rent.

  240. Who’s the vulture now? The people’s comments have caused the photographer to commit suicide, and nobody gives a damn because he’s the “bad man” the girl could have survived, but he didn’t. And honestly how many of you would have actually helped the girl? The vulture was chased away.

  241. An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on this. And he in fact bought me lunch simply because I stumbled upon it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending time to talk about this matter here on your blog.

  247. What if that man picked up a disease and died from touching that sickly child? Would he then be a hero? I wish you people would leave any type of religion out of this and say a kind word so that his family doesn’t have to read the nonsense. Regardless, he is a hero just for taking that picture & showing the despair in Sudan.
    Just in case you still would like to quote something from the Bible: can you really throw the first stone?

  248. Just by showing this picture Kevin Carter open our eyes to a real world far away from us and our reality where none of us have the courage to go and face it, and just because of that, he deserves all my respect and admiration. God bless you Kevin!

  250. Reblogged this on kimblesfreese and commented:
    This is a photograph we spoke about in our CMS class on Monday. it came up when we were looking at the different times of day to take photo’s, but the discussion that followed was a lot more than that.

    Taken by photographer Kevin Carter, he won the Pulitzer Prize for it, but after the scrutiny he faced from people around the world, Carter committed suicide.

    so, when it is your job and livelihood to take pictures, do you look at this and snap the shot with the possibility of spreading awareness and possibly helping thousands, or do you put down your lens and help this one child, and risk never in your life getting the opportunity to take a picture like this again?

    there was a lot of debate in class. yes, the child has been immortalised in history for the rest of eternity, but she is immortalised as a victim. i don’t know where i stand with this one. i don’t know if i would have been able to take this picture, but then again i am not a photographer.

    i think a lot of the scrutiny he came under was the ‘blame game.’ carter brought the world the reality of the horrors that were and still are in existence. humans have this thing we do where if we cant comprehend the acts of humanity which frighten us, we choose to blame someone for it, or for something relating to it, so that we don’t have to deal with the actual problem.

    one thing is for sure, this is a brilliant picture and deserved the prize it received, and Carter was a brave man for showing the world the truths of things that at the time people would rather have blissfully ignored.

    2. Now consider this scenario. Photographer doesn’t take the photo. Puts his camera down and picks up the child. Kids parents come back, find some strange man holding their child and attack the man. Simply protecting their child.

      Or he picks up the child and transmits a disease. Something minor in our world. but something that the Sudanese haven’t been exposed to. In this scenario he may unwittingly kill the girl and her parents.

      Truth is that we don’t know the situation. We don’t know the circumstances. Journalists are just that. They report. They photograph. But they aren’t there to do the “aid” work. They are there to report on the aid work.

      Anyone who talks ill about Carter without having the guts to go themselves should just keep their mouths shut.

  251. […] of ethical concern occurred when Kevin Carter captured a thought provoking and shocking image of a vulture preying upon an emaciated Sudanese toddler near the village of Ayod. This photo was sold to the New York Times and brought exposure to the artist and ethical issues […]

  253. Why has this photo brought blame to God and the photographer? There is a bit of God in all of us, when we are polite, help people ect. but the real question is why do these people in these countries have so many children when they know they are more than likely going to starve to death? God gave us life and our parents take it from there making our decisions and raising us until we can do it for ourselves. I bet half of you commenting would not touch that poor girl either, my heart would break but I definately would not if I was advised not to. Does that make me evil?

    1. LOL, you have to read the very first comment, someone said something about God not existing, then it went all downhill from there!

  256. Good= bad in world OK. Then your God° =devil° . fukn god power must be = devil power as magnet has both ends then your god and devil are brothers . OK who t fk is their father and mother?? Bible says sun runs around earth . shit! Copernicus.

  257. I believe death is not the end. Therefore I believe the evil about this picture is not the death of the child, it is the poor quality of her life. The Gods and Godesses will give her another go around if we allow space for better societies and stop feeding broken cycles out of our fear for death.

  258. Poor jesus he was running with loin cloth to escape the romans. if he is god or son of a god he has shown to us nothing but cowardness and he loves his body more than ours. forget about he died for us.

  263. […] الآن أخبرني ما مدى تأثير هذه القصة في نفسك، وهل ستشعر بنفس الشيء لو أنك قرأت مجرد خبر حول الحرب التي تدور في السودان تلك الفترة وبين أن ترى الصورة وتتساءل عن مصير تلك الطفلة وتعلم عن انتحار ملتقط صورتها. (مصدر الصورة) […]

  269. […] Phan Thi Kim Phuc, running away from a napalm attack in Vietnam, naked and blind with fear, or the photo of an emaciated little girl trying to reach a feeding station, collapsed on the ground in South Sudan while a vulture waits […]

  270. An insanely long discussion up here about God, Jesus, Adam, and sins. The reason behind such catastrophes is not the ignorance of “God”! Let’s take a small analogy to understand why God (if you wish to personify the power) would do something like this.
    If you were fighting with your sibling everyday over some toys, there are two things your parents could do.
    1. They could either punish you, and make your sibling feel better while making you hate him more, or
    2. They could keep your sibling away from the toy, so you would feel bad for him and share them with him yourself.
    There can be a zillion other things they could do, but not all apply to the situation we are looking at here. When humanity faces a challenge of this kind, it becomes necessary for us to lend our hand and support our brothers. Speaking ill about the “God” shall help no one.

  272. M glad …. Yes glad to read this news that a journalist did suicide because of his guild that he could not helped that girl….. Its really a big news that there are some humanity people who are died just because of there guilt…. In this cruel world some good people are there but they are not strong enough to help in other way ….. Amin ….

  273. I think there are some huge misconceptions here. Ill attempt to make some points here.
    1. Natural disasters like hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes are not Gods wrath, nor should they considered “evil” and think that God should stop them. They are the Earth’s heartbeat. They are how the Earth cleans and rejuvenates itself. Humans are fairly stupid when it comes to the Earth in that we try to control it instead of working with it. The suffering caused by tsunamis and the like are simply because we put ourselves in places that we KNOW are susceptible. IE, we build houses on our barrier islands (which are just moving and drifting sandbars) and then blame God when our house falls into the ocean.
    2. We aren’t being punished for disobedience of eating the fruit. That was the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We would be much more like the animals if we hadn’t eaten it. This opened our eyes to the possibilities of evil and we as humans simply cannot withstand the temptation. Man DID NOT BRING SIN INTO THE WORLD!!!! It already existed. but man chose to take actions that opened his eyes to what evil really is.
    3. God is NOT in charge of the Earth. and Satan is NOT Gods enemy. “the god of this age has blinded the eyes of the unbeliever” (g)od (little g) tells us that we are not talking about the Lord God (big G) but the lord of the age. Satan is the accuser. He holds council with God (see Job) and is the one running the show on earth. His sole purpose is to test us. To tempt us. He is the accuser and is used to separate the wheat (true believers) from the chaff.

    That being said, there are huge disparities between accepted religion and true Christianity. Most of us “Christians” are really just Churchians. Most Christians do not know the bible only the glossed over Sunday School stories meant as a simple baseline for children. And most religion is simply used as a tool for power and control. Just look at any “Holy” war from the crusades to Islamic Jihad. They are simply an excuse to make us feel justified in hurting others.

    A true Christian would say “Regardless of your religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation, Lets find something in common and go make something better.”

    That is sharing the love of God.

    1. How might someone more effectively communicate this idea to a group that have an opposite viewpoint? Do you ever use citations in your work? I’d love to read about what you read. I actually felt my brain grow when I read your website. You’ve really smacked the nail on the head.

  284. People plz don’t fool ur selves, carter didn’t have a choice regarding the child n it wasn’t only child in that situation in his career. Last he was watched all the time n he new if he dare touch any of the victims he would have paid for that with his own life.
    It was never his fault plz

  285. Cracks me up that people are blaming a God they don’t even believe exists…hmmmm! How do you do that? I guess they have to blame someone right? So if they don’t believe that God exists…then who are the thinking is responsible for anything in life? Do they believe in Satan….probably not…but who? It’s a vicious cycle to finding someone or something to blame. Truly a sad lot of people.

  289. Idiots. All of us. None of us have the right mind capability to reason. None of us know what we’re meant to do. Nobody knows the correct thing, yet we argue as if we are driving the universe with our infinitesimal power. There is NO IMAGINARY HELP watching over us. We are it. We must understand that. We are 7 billion idiots who are meant to help each other to become smarter, so these problems that we alone created(not any super natural being) could be solved.

    1. i agree with your statement to jail satan, i myslef am an avid satan follower, shallwe discuss the true wonder of satan together?

  295. God does exist, but he also gave men free will!! So there is a fight of Good and evil! If u take out an o out of good it says GOD! If you put a D in front on evil it says Devil!! So there is a God but he’s not going to come and save her because u want proof!! In the bible it says not to tear the Lord!! Hopefully that little girl is good and well. Sad for the man, because suicide is something the Lord does not condone! He is the one who judges when it’s ur time to go!!

  302. I read an alternate story of this photo. That the child was running to catch up to its parents, but lay down and cried. It did get up and joined them in line waiting for food…The first account by the photographer.

  304. This photo is the reason I finally was strong enough to walk out of the shadow of religion. There is not god. Not in this world.

    1. This wonderful article is addressing topic on the vultures stalking a child. I loved reading this article. Here the tips and tricks for addressing such are mentioned. Such content must be made more and more available. Thank you for this article! This is really very informative.

    1. every time i see this picture, the legs just give way, and i real cry ? this girl represents hell on earth, most times meted by our own satans.who are far beyond the original Satan.

  313. God is mystery,the more you find out the more confused you get.The human wisdom does stop at a certain stage,a monkey will not accept to leave the bush and live with people with all the capacitie it has,this is because its intelligence gets to a limit where it can not go any further.

    Noone has seen God before but every human being can feel his existence and power and love.If we can not understand little things which happen in our lives,like when a doctor operates a little child to cure him of some disease,what do you think the child thinks,punishment?no! not a punishment atall.

    1. power of love is piercing and yet soft. pictures of this kind reconciles us with the creator, the owner of life and all that be. the suicide of the photographer himself is another tragedy that helps us to understand love. we are all part of each other in flesh and spirit.

    1. Ever become overwhelmed by writing all this great content? I was reading your website and my crazy kitten broke a glass all over my brand new computer. I just shared your blog on Facebook. You’re a very knoledgeable article writer. I truly believe this website needs a great deal more attention. Kids today really need to pay close attention to this sort of information or they’re going to have a really difficult later on in their life.

  340. free blogging tool Thank you a bunch to get revealing this with all people you probably understand what you are conversing roughly! Saved as a favorite. I implore you to in addition check out my website Means). We may have got a hyperlink change contract of us

  342. […] الآن أخبرني ما مدى تأثير هذه القصة في نفسك، وهل ستشعر بنفس الشيء لو أنك قرأت مجرد خبر حول الحرب التي تدور في السودان تلك الفترة وبين أن ترى الصورة وتتساءل عن مصير تلك الطفلة وتعلم عن انتحار ملتقط صورتها. (مصدر الصورة) […]

Leave a reply to Disciple in training Cancel reply