One day in 1993, a photographer took a photo in Africa, which was a sensation and won an award. Who knows, just two months after the award, the photographer committed suicide. Why?
The photographer of the photo was named Kevin Carter.
In 1993, a great famine broke out in Sudan, an African country in the midst of war, and countless people died in starvation.
At that time, Kevin, a photojournalist, and his companions went to Sudan to cover the interview.
One day, Kevin inadvertently walked near a food relief center. There, he saw a little girl who was so thin that she couldn't walk, dying on the ground.
Not far away, a very large vulture crouched, greedily staring at its prey, the little girl.
At this moment, Kevin's heart was extremely shocked, and he immediately pressed the shutter to record this moment.
Later, the New York Times published the photo, which was later quoted by the media of many countries, and this photo was the famous "Hungry Sudan".
The weak little girl, the extremely threatening vulture, it is not difficult to imagine the cruel picture that is about to happen, this scene deeply tugged at the hearts of countless people, and also aroused the great attention of the international community to Sudan.
In May 1994, Kevin's Hungry Sudan won that year's Pulitzer Prize for Close-Up Photography in Journalism.
As a photojournalist, Kevin was undoubtedly successful. Who knows, his troubles followed, until finally, he gave up his life.
Here's the thing, shortly after the Pulitzer Prize, a Florida columnist wrote an article about The Hungry Sultan to the effect that:
Kevin is a selfish, unconcerned journalist whose Pulitzer Prize was awarded for stepping on the corpse of a little girl.
The implication is that when a kind person sees a Sudanese girl like that, he should immediately go forward to drive away the vultures and rescue the girls, not take pictures.
So, what is the truth?
In fact, after winning the award, a Japanese television station interviewed one of the judges of the award, John Kaplan.
During the interview, Kaplan explicitly told the reporter:
The little girl was not alone in a deserted place, but near the relief center, and the little girl's mother was collecting food at the nearby relief center. More importantly, the little girl wore a bracelet that proved she had received humanitarian protection.
These are marked on the photos. Moreover, Kaplan said that the judges trusted the photographer and that if the little girl needed help, the photographer would have a duty.
But, unfortunately, in order to attract attention to the show, the original intention of the show's producers was to attack Kevin and pulitzer prizes closely around journalistic ethics and morality.
So they cut out Kaplan's statement. Since then, attention has shifted from the famine in Africa to Kevin, and countless people have begun to lash out at him for seeing him dead.
It was also then that Kevin had suicidal thoughts.
Then, Kevin's best friend was shot in another interview.
At that time, he had financial problems again and had to go to Mozambique for interviews, but he carelessly lost the papers that had not yet been washed out after the interview.
I think kevin's heart must have been extremely broken at that time. Economic problems, coupled with always unpleasant work, and constant criticism and insults from the outside world, is that no one wants to live.
On July 27, 1994, only two months after the award. At seven o'clock in the evening, Kevin drove to a river and ended his life with car exhaust.
Kevin is gone forever, and I wonder how those who slammed him will feel?
All I know is that that day, after Kevin took the picture, he immediately drove away the vulture. Then he lit a cigarette and sat down under the tree next to him, crying bitterly: for the little girl's suffering, but also for his own powerlessness.
What's wrong with Kevin? Whatever the purpose, at least he went to Sudan and filmed "Hungry Sudan" to let the world know and pay attention to Sudan.
And what did those who stood on the moral high ground and accused Kevin do?
Morality is not a tool to hurt others, and what is even more ridiculous is that what you do does not show how morally high they are.
Instead of blaming others from the moral high ground, it is better to restrain yourself with moral codes and lead by example.
What do you think?
