Results 1 to 5 of 5

Photographer Haunted by his own Work

This is a discussion on Photographer Haunted by his own Work within the Photographic essays and classic photography forums, part of the Photography & Fine art photography category; I not sure why but I was doing some reading an I recalled a story of a photographer who committed ...

  1. #1
    AcadieLibre's Avatar
    AcadieLibre is offline Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
    Posts
    2,151
    My Photos
    Please do NOT edit my photos
    Critiques
    Only critique photos posted in the critique forum

    Default Photographer Haunted by his own Work

    I not sure why but I was doing some reading an I recalled a story of a photographer who committed suicide because of what he saw through his work. The photographers name is Kevin Carter a South African Photographer. He took a photo that won him a Pulitzer Prize it was of a starving girl and vulture waiting for the child to die, so haunted by all he had seen he eventually committed suicide. I will post the link to his story, the photo is there. The only thing I did not see was his suicide note, I am only posting it as it is why he thought he could not live life any longer. This man story has many interpretations and facets, so I tried to find the most balanced pieces, so you may read or here varying interpretations of it but I think these are fair.

    "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...I have gone to join Ken if I am that lucky." July 27 1994


    Kevin Carter

    Also Kevin Carter was one of 4 photographers who were called the Big Bang club that worked the South African Townships during apartheid. Here is a short wikipedia article on the group but I would suggest people interested do further reading as what they did was heroic, selfless and important. Many notable photographers also worked along side them.

    Bang-Bang Club - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



    This is a Video where "Four Media Students take on the ethics case of Photojournalist Kevin Carter and his infamous and award winning photograph "Sudanese Girl". Quote From You Tube.
    Last edited by AcadieLibre; 11-21-2009 at 04:41 AM.
    “I take photographs with love, so I try to make them art objects. But I make them for myself first and foremost - that is important.” Jacques-Henri Lartigue

    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke

    "Vive L'Acadie, Liberté, égalité, fraternité, ou la mort!"




  2. #2
    casil403's Avatar
    casil403 is offline Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Calgary Canada
    Posts
    6,612
    My Photos
    Please do NOT edit my photos
    Critiques
    Only critique photos posted in the critique forum

    Default

    Form reading this he sounds a bit like he also suffered from bipolar disorder as well. That might also be what helped contribute to his death.
    I have to wonder....
    Interesting essay AL. Thanks for sharing.
    Last edited by casil403; 11-21-2009 at 09:37 AM.
    "Life is like photography, we develop from the negatives"-anonymous
    My website: www.albertaandbeyond.com

  3. #3
    Bambi's Avatar
    Bambi is offline Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Nova Scotia
    Posts
    9,755
    My Photos
    Please ask before editing my photos

    Default

    thanks for sharing that AL.

    My heart breaks for that poor man. He seems to have been a very sensitive soul who was both appalled and driven by the photos he took.
    Feel free to make comments on any of my shots

    my blog: http://bambesblog.blogspot.com/

    My flickr photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bambe1964/

    A painter takes their vision and makes it a reality. A photographer takes reality and makes it their vision.

  4. #4
    Mad Aussie's Avatar
    Mad Aussie is offline Moderator
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Brisbane, Qld, Australia
    Posts
    14,098
    My Photos
    Please ask before editing my photos

    Default

    It does sound like there was a lot more to his suicide than just the photos/experiences he saw and took.

    That's some photo though. I'm glad we sponsor a little girl in The Gambia.

  5. #5
    AcadieLibre's Avatar
    AcadieLibre is offline Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
    Posts
    2,151
    My Photos
    Please do NOT edit my photos
    Critiques
    Only critique photos posted in the critique forum

    Default

    Why I posted the suicide note, it was more than just his work and what he saw, but for someone who seems to have been prone to thoughts of suicide and seems from what I read and heard he was manic depressive to begin with so it must have been very tough on him to be photographing those environments.
    “I take photographs with love, so I try to make them art objects. But I make them for myself first and foremost - that is important.” Jacques-Henri Lartigue

    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke

    "Vive L'Acadie, Liberté, égalité, fraternité, ou la mort!"




Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36