The Wall_Spring 2023_Issue 9

Artwork: Sonya Kurylova, S9

Hilary Hanslin , (she/her), S9, uncovers the sordid truth behind a famous photograph and the questionable ethics surrounding the image.

In 1993, the photo that would cause society’s emotions to erupt and controversy to spark was captured. A South African named Kevin Carter was given the opportunity to travel and report about the famine in South Sudan and the area’s civil war.That is how the 33-year-old came to take his infamous photo.At first glance, I thought that the image depicted a starving girl crouched on the ground while a bird simply stood

behind. I wasn’t completely wrong but unfortunately, there is a much more heart-breaking story behind the image. The hungry girl was, in actuality, weakly making her way to the local food centre when she collapsed as a result of starvation. If this wasn’t despairing enough, the vulture behind her was not just watching her, but was lurking so it

wouldn’t miss the opportunity of her inevitable death, when the bird of prey could consume her. My faith in humanity decreased immediately after learning this. Carter was a healthy enough man who could have easily saved the girl and helped her reach the feeding centre but instead he decided to adjust his lens and capture the child’s suffering to satisfy

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