Shocking Real Life Story Of Kevin Carter

Kevin Carter (13 September 1960 – 27 July 1994) was a South African photojournalist and member of the Bang-Bang Club. He was the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph depicting the 1993 famine in Sudan. He committed suicide at the age of 33. His story is depicted in the 2010 feature film The Bang-Bang Club, in which he was played by Taylor Kitsch.

Early life

Kevin Carter was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Carter grew up in a middle-class, whites-only neighborhood. As a child, he occasionally saw police raids to arrest blacks who were illegally living in the area. He said later that he questioned how his parents, a Catholic, "liberal" family, could be what he described as 'lackadaisical' about fighting against apartheid.

After high school, Carter dropped out of his studies to become a pharmacist and was drafted into the army. To escape from the infantry, he enlisted in the Air Force in which he served four years. In 1980, he witnessed a black mess-hall waiter being insulted. Carter defended the man, resulting in him being badly beaten by the other servicemen. He then went AWOL, attempting to start a new life as a radio disk-jockey named "David". This, however, proved more difficult than he had anticipated. Soon after, he decided to serve out the rest of his required military service. After witnessing the Church Street bombing in Pretoria in 1983, he decided to become a news photographer and journalist.

Carter had started to work as a weekend sports photographer in 1983. In 1984, he moved on to work for the Johannesburg Star, bent on exposing the brutality of apartheid.

Carter was the first to photograph a public execution "necklacing" by black Africans in South Africa in the mid-1980s. Carter later spoke of the images: "I was appalled at what they were doing. But then people started talking about those pictures... then I felt that maybe my actions hadn't been at all bad. Being a witness to something this horrible wasn't necessarily such a bad thing to do."

Prize-winning photograph in Sudan

In March 1993, while on a trip to Sudan, Carter was preparing to photograph a starving toddler trying to reach a feeding center when a hooded vulture landed nearby. Carter reported taking the picture, because it was his "job title", and leaving. He was told not to touch the children for fear of transmitting disease. After taking the picture, he got up and chased the vulture away.

Sold to The New York Times, the photograph first appeared on 26 March 1993 and was carried in many other newspapers around the world. Hundreds of people contacted the newspaper to ask the fate of the girl. The paper reported that it was not known whether she had managed to reach the feeding centre. In April 1994, the photograph won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

Death

On 27 July 1994 Carter drove his way to Parkmore near the Field and Study Center, an area where he used to play as a child, and committed suicide by taping one end of a hose to his pickup truck’s exhaust pipe and running the other end to the driver's side window. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning at the age of 33. Portions of Carter's suicide note read:

"I’m really, really sorry. The pain of life overrides the joy to the point that joy does not exist...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 [recently deceased colleague Ken Oosterbroek] if I am that lucky”.

— Kevin Carter in his suicide note, 

The 1996 song "Kevin Carter" by rock band Manic Street Preachers, the third single taken from their fourth album Everything Must Go, was inspired by Carter's life and suicide.

Awards

In April 1994, Carter's photograph of a starving Sudanese child being eyed by a vulture won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

“... ሰው ሲራብ፣ሲቸገር አትዩ፡፡ ካያችሁም ከሌላችሁ ቀንሳችሁም ቢሆን እርዱ፡፡ የሕሊና ቁስል መፈወሻ የለውም፡፡ ራሳችሁን ከሕሊና ቁስለት ታደጉ።”~ ኬቨን ካርተር

መጋቢት 1985 ዓ/ም ‹‹ኬቨን ካርተር›› የተባለ ደቡብ አፍሪቃዊ የፎቶግራፍ ባለሙያ ሱዳን ውስጥ ተከስቶ በነበረው ርሀብ ከተባበሩት መንግስታት የእርዳታ ልኡክ ጋር ለደግነት ወደ ደቡብ ሱዳን ያመራል፡፡ በአንዷ መከረኛ እለትም ይህቺን ከታች የምትመለከቷትን ምስል በካሜራው አስቀረ፡፡

‹‹ርሀብ አድቅቆት የገዛ ራሱን መሸከም ያቃተው ህፃን ልጅ እና ይህን ገላ ለመግመጥ የቋመጠ ጥንብ አንሳ›› የረሀብን ክፉ ገፅታ ፣የድርቅን አሰቃቂ ሁነት፣የምስኪኖችን እልቂት፣ ቃላት ሊገልፁ ከሚችሉበት አቅም በላይ በሆነ መንገድ በድንቅ ካሜራው ለአለም አስቃኘ፡፡

‹‹ቀጫጫ እጆች እንኳን ለመሮጥ፣ ለመቦረቅ ይቅርና የገዛ አካሉን ለመሸከም ያዳገተው እግር፣ መቆም የከበደው ገላ እና በርሀብ በሞቱ ሰዎች የደለበ ፈርጣማ አሞራ!!››

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ይህን ፎቶ ከወራት በኃላ በ1985 ዓም ለኒውዮርክ ታይምስ ጋዜጣ ተሸጦ ታተመ፡፡ ምስሉ በመላው አለም ታየ፡፡ ፎቶግራፈሩ፣ ክብር እና ዝናን አተረፈ፡፡ ተሸለመ፣ ተሞገሰ፡፡ ዓለም ስለፎቶግራፈሩ አወራ፡፡

☞☞☞ ከዚህ ሽልማት በኋላ በሰጠው ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ ላይ በአንድ አስተዋይ ጋዜጠኛ የተወረወረች ያልተጠበቀች ጥያቄ ግን የህይወቱን አቅጣጫ እስከወዲያኛው ቀየረችው፤ አመሳቀለችው፡፡
“ህፃኗ ልጅ እንዴት ሆነች….ታደግካት?!!”
አይኖቹ ፈጠጡ….ላብ አጠመቀው…ቃላት ከአንደበቱ ጠፋ!!

....በምናብ ወደ ደቡብ ሱዳንዋ የርሃብ መንደር ተሰደደ፡፡ ጠያቂው ግን ድጋሚ በጩኸት ጠየቀ “ህፃንዋን ልጅ ታደግካት?!? ነው ፎቶዋን ብቻ ነው ይዘኸው የመጣህ???” ካርተር ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫውን አቋርጦ ወጣ፡፡ ከወዳጅ ከዘመድ ሁሉ ተሰወረ፡፡ ከራሱ ጋር ተጣልቶ ለብቻው ውሳኔ አልባ ዶሴ ከፈተ፡፡ በገዳይዋ ፊት ጥሏት የሄደው የጎስቋላ ህፃን ነፍስ ለወራት እንቅልፍ ነሳው፡፡ ካርተር ራሱን ወነጀለ፡፡ የፎቶግራፍ ሽልማቱን ባሸነፈ በሦስት ወሩ በልጅነቱ ሲቦርቅ ባደገባት ‹‹ፓርክሞር›› በተባለች ለምለም ቀዬ በ33 አመቱ እራሱን ገድሎ ተገኘ፡፡ ራሱን የሞት ፍርድ ፈረደበት፡፡

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በሞቱ ዋዜማ ላይ ሆኖ ለወዳጅ ዘመዶቹ ባስቀረው ማስታወሻ የሚከተለውን ፀፀት አሰፈረ፤

“ካለኝ ነገር ቀንሸ አልሰጠሁም፡፡ እኔን ለማኖር ስራየን ብቻ ሰራሁ፡፡ ሚጡ ከርሀብ ጋር ስትታገል ጥንብ አንሳው በእሷ ጠግቦ ይሆናል፡፡ ሚጡዋ፣ የአሞራው እራት ስትሆን፣ በሚጡ ርሀብ እኔ ተሸለምኩ፡፡ ይህም እኔን ሚጡ ወዳለችበት የሞት ጎዳና እንድሄድ ፀፀቱ አስገደደኝ፡፡ ደህና ሁኑ ዘመዶቸ፡፡ ሰው ሲራብ፣ሲቸገር አትዩ፡፡ ካያችሁም ከሌላችሁ ቀንሳችሁም ቢሆን እርዱ፡፡ የህሊና ቁስል መፈወሻ የለውም፡፡ ራሳችሁን ከህሊና ቁስለት ታደጉ፡፡”

Source: Wikipedia