This photo, no heavy filters, no gorgeous colors.
There was only a skinny little African girl, and not far away the vultures who were watching her as prey.
In 1993, as soon as the photograph came out, it immediately caused a global sensation and won the glorious Pulitzer Prize.
Did the little girl survive?
Vulture with little girl
The photographer who took this photo is Kevin Carter, who was born in 1960 to a white family in South Africa.
His city was strictly segregated, and he was unhappy with it from an early age.
After graduating from high school at the age of 16, Carter began to study pharmacy, but his grades were too poor and he dropped out.
Later, he was called into the army, where he found racial discrimination to be unusually severe, and for supporting blacks, he was even beaten by other white soldiers.
After retiring from the army at the age of 23, carter developed a keen interest in photography and journalism while working in a photographic equipment store.
He decided to be a war news photographer and do his part for peace and equality.
In 1993, civil unrest broke out in Sudan, and famine swept through the country, filling the stomach and living became the luxury of ordinary people.
For humanitarian reasons, the United Nations launched a relief effort to sudan, distributing food to the population and inviting war correspondents to cover it.
Carter was one of them, and together with his colleague Silva, he followed the rescue plane to Sudan to photograph the real story on the road.
After getting off the plane, Carter felt terrible, hungry and full of countless skinny beggars on the road.
Although the grain is constantly distributed, the refugees who spread over the mountains can be said to be a drop in the bucket.
Carter, who came from a middle-class family, could not imagine that famine would cause such a catastrophe, and he saw only a heavy despair in the eyes of these refugees.
Faced with such a scene, Carter felt extremely sad, and the mood that could not be calmed for a long time made him almost breathless.
Carter walked over to the bushes beside him, trying to calm his mind.
Just then, Carter heard a slight sobbing sound coming from the side.
He sniffed and walked over and found a skinny little girl, breathlessly lying on the wasteland.
Her mother was collecting relief food at a food distribution centre 1 kilometre away and did not have time to take care of her for the time being.
There was only one little girl in the barren wilderness, and Carter decided to record the scene, and he picked up the camera and quickly crouched down, ready to take a picture of the little girl.
Just then, suddenly a huge vulture landed behind the little girl and stared at her.
With keen intuition, the vulture judged that the little girl's life would soon be over, and quietly waited for the little girl to die, so that he could feast.
At this point, two living beings appeared in Carter's camera, a fat vulture and a dying little girl.
Seeing this, Carter adjusted the shooting angle, and in order to capture the shot of the vulture spreading its wings and flying away, Carter waited quietly for 20 minutes, as far as possible not to disturb the vulture.
After the shooting was complete, Carter swept the vulture away and watched the little girl move on.
Seeing the poor and helpless little girl in front of him, Carter had mixed feelings, and at that moment, he suddenly remembered his daughter.
The softest place deep inside was hit so deeply that he sat down and cried bitterly.
Carter was determined to make this photograph public so that the world could see the suffering of the people caused by war and famine.
A photographer who has been referred to by thousands of people
On March 26, 1993, the New York Times published this photo, which caused a huge response once it came out, and the media in various countries reprinted it wildly.
The photographs drew global attention to the Great Famine in Sudan, with many generously donating money to help refugees suffering from the famine.
At the same time, it triggered thousands of people to call the newspaper to inquire about the life and death of the little girl in the photo and care about her follow-up.
But neither the newspaper nor Carter could say why, and they didn't know the whereabouts of the little girl.
So, looking at the shocking photo, everyone took it for granted that the little girl was eaten by a vulture.
At this point, some people began to question: why didn't the photographer put down the camera to rescue the little girl?
Immediately followed was an overwhelming incriminating question, and it was widely believed that Carter had put the little girl in danger in order to take a photo.
The public has accused Carter of being a ruthless and selfish person, and an American media has sharply criticized it, saying that it is stepping on the corpse of a little girl to win the award.
Complaints were lodged with Carter's newspaper, hoping to fire the "cold-blooded" photographer.
Someone even inquired about Carter's address and scribbled insults at the door of his house.
Things got worse, and Carter, who reported the truth to the world, seemed to have become a murderous demon in the eyes of the public.
Everywhere is full of insults and attacks on his body, mental torture, and public insults like a blade, coldly piercing into Carter's heart.
Carter tried to explain, but could not cover up the overwhelming insults, and no one listened to him or believed him.
Even Carter's friends began to constantly condemn him, believing that he should go to the rescue of the little girl, not take pictures.
In 1994, the photo won the Pulitzer Press Feature Photography Award, but Carter did not have a hint of joy.
That same year, a Japanese television station brought in John Kaplan, one of the Pulitzer Prize judges.
He testified that when Carter posted the photo, he made a point at the bottom of the photo: The vulture flew away.
He was also shocked that carter could not imagine that carter had become a heinous sinner in the eyes of the public.
Judge John reiterated that the little girl was not alone, her mother was 1 km away from receiving relief food, but she did not have time to take care of her for the time being.
And the little girl was wearing a bracelet on her hand, which was distributed by the United Nations, which showed that the little girl had been rescued by the United Nations.
The day after the show was recorded, the television station broadcast it, but to John's infuriation, the radio station cut almost all of his explanations for Carter.
After the show aired, it once again angered the public and launched a deeper insult attack on Carter.
Amid all the condemnations and insults, Carter almost collapsed. Every night he just had to close his eyes and go to sleep, and the poor little girl would always come to mind.
He began to have frequent nightmares, and his mental state began to deteriorate.
The last straw that overwhelmed the camels
Under the negative influence of this kind of almost ruining him, Carter not only began to decline his career, but his marriage with his wife also lit up red lights, and eventually ended in divorce.
At this time, Carter's life suddenly fell to the bottom, and he could only talk to his two best friends.
Carter's two best friends, one was Silva, who traveled with him to Sudan to shoot, and the other was Osterbrook.
In 1993, the three of them came to Tokoza to cover a violent accident, but Carter left early when something happened.
As a result, his friend Osterbrook was shot and killed on the spot.
The death of his friend made Carter's friend's death devastating, and he felt extremely remorseful in his heart, regretting that he had left early that day.
He would rather be himself than a friend who died that day.
At the same time, due to negative effects, Carter's career continued to decline, resulting in him almost no income.
He had no money to pay rent, no money to cover daily expenses, no money to raise his daughter, and poverty almost made it difficult for him to move.
In order to support himself, Carter tried his best to get a hard job and went to Mozambique for an interview.
But long-term mental anxiety and great stress, insomnia became a necessary part of Carter's nightly experience, and the night before departure was also the same, until the early morning when he was drowsy.
As a result, he missed an early morning flight.
Unfortunately, when Carter returned from Mozambique, he lost a roll of unwashed film.
Carter completely collapsed, he cried with a headache, he couldn't understand, he obviously used photos to make the world pay attention to the victims, why did he have to suffer these injustices?
He couldn't figure out what he was doing wrong.
Careers plummeted, marriages failed, best friends died, carter could not see the hope of life.
At that time, he felt that life had lost all meaning.
On July 27, 1994, Carter lay in a soft bed, relaxed as never before, and slept until noon.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at the sun shooting through the window, Carter instantly felt incredibly light inside.
After he packed himself up, he took out his camera and got up and went out the door, walking down the street looking for a fascinating moment to record.
It is this camera in his hand that gives him a different life, has more meaning, and it is also this camera that pushes him into the abyss.
After taking the photos, Carter went to see the widow of his deceased friend, and he comforted the widowed woman and encouraged her to live strongly.
But this woman would not have thought that the man in front of her who was relieved to herself chose to end her life that night.
At 7 p.m., Carter finished all the arrangements, said goodbye to the people he cared about, and came to the familiar river, which contained the best memories of his childhood.
He took out a tube, stuck one end into the car's exhaust pipe, and the other end reached into the car, where he lay slowly and played his favorite music.
Carter gradually fell asleep to soothing music, ending his short life at the age of 34.
Girl follow-up
In 2011, the girl's father came out and spoke up, saying that it was not the girl in the photo, but his son.
The son was not eaten by vultures or killed in the famine, but died of a fever in 2007.
But Carter, who was sentenced to the "death penalty" by the world, has long passed away.
The full picture is unknown and will not be commented on.
At all times, we must remember that before we know the truth, we should not use our own imagination to push others into the abyss.