Composition: Does Your Photograph Need a Subject???
Feb 5, 2017 02:24:30 #
The child wasn't in danger from the vulture, she was in danger of starvation, over 70,000 people died of starvation in sudan in 1993.
The bird was waiting for her to die, it clearly considered the child's death imminent. How long do you think the bird was prepared to wait? An hour 2 hours the rest of the day? Carter got a very powerful photo but he also waited 20 minutes to get it and gave no assistance in that time not even a drink of water. Would that delay cost her life? Even if she did survive (which is unclear) should he have gambled with her life?
A while back I was on my way home and i came across a car wreck the car was on it's roof. Crawling out the car were some teenagers i recognised them as pupils from the school where i was working. 3 of them got out of the car with minor injuries. the driver a 17 year old boy was hanging upside down in the car suspended by his seat belt, although i did crawl in to the car i was unable to do anything to help him. It needed cutting gear which wouldn't arrive until the fire truck reached the scene. The boy died there. Over the next months that scene played over and over in my head I thought of every possible way I could have acted differently and in the end I had to accept that I had done my best and it wasn't enough to save his life.
I can only imagine how Carter must have felt after that day, and the guilt he must have been feeling, I at least have the reassurance I could have done no more. Carter didn't he probably was carrying water, and he did place a photo before the life of a child. On the other side "the big picture" it probably brought more donations of aid which reduced the over all death toll, but at what cost to the child?
Maybe his suicide was his way to even out the score, or just ending the guilt he was feeling, i don't know. I do know to be a fully functional human being some empathy is an essential part of mental health, that most of us have.
The bird was waiting for her to die, it clearly considered the child's death imminent. How long do you think the bird was prepared to wait? An hour 2 hours the rest of the day? Carter got a very powerful photo but he also waited 20 minutes to get it and gave no assistance in that time not even a drink of water. Would that delay cost her life? Even if she did survive (which is unclear) should he have gambled with her life?
A while back I was on my way home and i came across a car wreck the car was on it's roof. Crawling out the car were some teenagers i recognised them as pupils from the school where i was working. 3 of them got out of the car with minor injuries. the driver a 17 year old boy was hanging upside down in the car suspended by his seat belt, although i did crawl in to the car i was unable to do anything to help him. It needed cutting gear which wouldn't arrive until the fire truck reached the scene. The boy died there. Over the next months that scene played over and over in my head I thought of every possible way I could have acted differently and in the end I had to accept that I had done my best and it wasn't enough to save his life.
I can only imagine how Carter must have felt after that day, and the guilt he must have been feeling, I at least have the reassurance I could have done no more. Carter didn't he probably was carrying water, and he did place a photo before the life of a child. On the other side "the big picture" it probably brought more donations of aid which reduced the over all death toll, but at what cost to the child?
Maybe his suicide was his way to even out the score, or just ending the guilt he was feeling, i don't know. I do know to be a fully functional human being some empathy is an essential part of mental health, that most of us have.
Feb 5, 2017 03:31:06 #
repleo wrote:
SS - I know you are a decent person and didn't mean this the way it reads. No 'job' or calling justifies allowing a fellow human being to die like this. Apparently Carter came to the same conclusion.
We should all be haunted and shamed by this image.
We should all be haunted and shamed by this image.
Phil, for sure I certainly didn't mean to sound callused about the situation. I merely meant that as journalist go, as far as I know they are supposed to be neutral to the point of not influencing a scene or outcome.
I don't think any of us can know what we would do in certain situations without the benefits of hindsight.
I remember reading years ago, I think it was Ron Haeberle after photographing at My Lai that he never photographed again. Don't know for sure if that's true either but I believe he is still alive and at least he could be asked.
In the case of Carter who is no longer with us, There is no way to verify anything about his personal feelings.
And sorry if what I said came across as uncaring or that uncaring is a part of that job.
SS
Feb 5, 2017 03:37:37 #
Feb 5, 2017 04:47:40 #
SharpShooter wrote:
Phil, for sure I certainly didn't mean to sound ca... (show quote)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/photo-gallery/mylai-massacre-evidence/
According to Ron Haeberle he destroyed some of the more graphic images...
Feb 5, 2017 05:54:43 #
the journalists did what they judged "right" at the tlme,
what concerns me is what those who sat in judgment did to the journalists.
what concerns me is what those who sat in judgment did to the journalists.
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