Witnesses to the End of an Era
Between 1990 and 1994, four men stepped into the center of South Africa's brutal transition from Apartheid. This article explores the legacy of the Bang-Bang Club—a story of extreme bravery, and the devastating psychological price paid for "the shot."
"The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering, might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene."
Kevin Carter (13 September 1960 in Johannesburg – 27 July 1994) was an award-winning South African photojournalist and member of the Bang-Bang Club.
Kevin Carter was born in apartheid South Africa and 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.
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 vulture landed nearby. Carter reported to have taken the picture, because it was his "job title", and leaving. He came under criticism for failing to help the girl:
- The St. Petersburg Times in Florida said this of Carter:
Sold to the New York Times, the photograph first appeared on March 26, 1993. Hundreds of people contacted the newspaper to ask the fate of the girl. The paper reported that it was unknown whether she had managed to reach the feeding center. In 1994, the photograph won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.
Early on Monday, April 18, the Bang-Bang Club headed out to Thokoza township, 10 miles from downtown Johannesburg, to cover an outbreak of violence. Shortly before noon, with the sun too bright for taking good pictures, Carter returned to the city. Then on the radio he heard that his best friend, Oosterbroek, had been killed in Thokoza. Marinovich had been gravely wounded. Oosterbroek’s death devastated Carter, and he returned to work in Thokoza the next day, even though the violence had escalated. He later told friends that he and not Ken “should have taken the bullet.”
On 27 July 1994 Carter drove to the Braamfontein Spruit river, near the Field and Study Centre, an area where he used to play as a child, and took his own life by taping one end of a hose to his pickup truck’s exhaust pipe and running the other end to the passenger-side window. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning, aged 33. Portions of Carter's suicide note read:
"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 ...
The fourth member of the Bang Bang Club, João Silva, lost both legs in a landmine explosion while covering the warzone in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
A Tragic Chronology: 1994
April 1994
The Death of Ken Oosterbroek
Just days before the historic elections, Ken is shot and killed by "friendly fire" in Tokoza township. Marinovich is also wounded. The group is shattered.
The Pulitzer Prize
Kevin Carter receives the highest honor in journalism for his image in Sudan. The triumph is bittersweet, overshadowed by the loss of Oosterbroek.
May 1994
July 1994
The Final Toll
Unable to bear the trauma of the conflict and the loss of his friend, Kevin Carter dies by suicide in Johannesburg at age 33.
- Carter was the first to photograph a public execution by "necklacing" in South Africa.
The Brotherhood
They were driven by a mixture of adrenaline, professional ambition, and a genuine desire to document the atrocities of the era. Their camaraderie was forged in the "killing fields" of places like Soweto and Tokoza.
Kevin Carter
Prominent & Troubled
Best known for the Sudanese famine photograph that sparked a global ethical debate...
Greg Marinovich
Pulitzer Winner
Documented early township violence and was wounded several times in the line of duty...
Ken Oosterbroek
The Experienced Eye
Chief photographer at The Star. His death in 1994 marked the beginning of the end for the group...
João Silva
The Witness
Accompanied Carter to Sudan and documented the brutal conflicts between ANC and IFP...
The Pulitzer and the Backlash
In 1994, Carter was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for the Sudan image. However, the acclaim was almost immediately followed by a wave of public criticism. Readers and critics questioned why Carter had not helped the child immediately, with some accusing him of being a "second predator" on the scene.
Though Carter had been instructed not to touch famine victims due to the risk of disease, and the child eventually reached a food center, the emotional toll of the criticism—combined with the horrors he had witnessed throughout his career—weighed heavily on him.
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The Ethical Paradox Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer-winning image of a starving child in Sudan became a focal point for photojournalistic ethics. Below, toggle between the public criticism and the operational context of the time.
The Public Backlash
"Why didn't he pick her up?" Public sentiment was fierce, with many labeling Carter a second predator—the second vulture in the frame. The question remains: at what point does the duty to document cross the line into inhumanity
Ken Oosterbroek: Killed in 1994 by "friendly fire" from African National Congress (ANC) peacekeepers while covering a shootout in Tokoza.
Greg Marinovich: Severely wounded in the same incident that killed Oosterbroek.
João Silva: Lost both legs after stepping on a landmine while embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2010.
Kevin Carter: Committed suicide in July 1994, just months after winning his Pulitzer. In his suicide note, he wrote: "I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain... of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners."
In 1994, Kevin Carter won the Pulitzer prize for a photo showing a vulture stalking an infant girl in the Sudan.
"Many are asking if Kevin Carter helped the child after taking the photo.
The answer was: NO
As per his words, he waited there for 20 minutes more because he hoped that the vulture would open its wings and he would get a better shot.
He said later that he scared the vulture away.
A drama based on the true-life experiences of four combat photographers capturing the final days of apartheid in South Africa.
Photojournalists (Ryan Phillippe, Taylor Kitsch, Frank Rautenbach) put themselves in harm's way as they shoot evidence of atrocities committed in the final days of South African apartheid.
the bang bang club (2010)
The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club
aka The Life of Kevin Carter is a 2004 American documentary short subject about the suicide of South African photojournalist Kevin Carter. The film was produced and directed by Dan Krauss. It describes how Carter, who won the Pulitzer Prize for a photograph of an emaciated African girl being stalked by a vulture, became depressed by the carnage he witnessed as a photographer in war-torn places.
In addition, he was devastated by the death of Ken Oosterbroek, a close friend and colleague who was shot and killed while working in the township of Thokoza.
the death of kevin carter (2005)
Photographer Profile: Kevin Carter Pictures Gallery - Getty Images >>>
The Lord's Children - Greg Marinovich
Biafra 1968, Don McCullin
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