Regarding the pain of others

1. Which is more helpful, taking a picture of a baby who is starved or helping a baby by giving food or taking hospital?

2. What is the meaning of taking picture in during a war?

3. How people think and react towards picture during a war?

Kevin Carter (1960-1994) is a photographer who received the Pulitzer Prize in 1994.  His award winning photo depicted a starving boy who bends his body without any hope, and there is a vulture waiting for him to, presumably, die in the background. Although this picture earned him the Pulitzer Prize, it was one of the reasons that ultimately drove Carter to commit suicide.

Many people condemned Carter saying that he should have helped the boy rather than just taking a picture, and that made him feel a sense of shame and guilt. I personally think this is ironic because not everyone can fairly judge what Carter chose to do at that time. In addition had Carter not shot the photo at that time then he would not have raised awareness of the famine in Sudan and people would not have a discussion about it to begin with.  Many people have no experiences of war and don’t know how harsh and cruel it can truly be.  It’s easy to judge someone else especially with the power of hindsight.

In Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag she tries to spread the awareness of feeling other people’s pain. People have no true attention and awareness towards war despite the abundance of photographs of it because they think it is unrelated to them directly in terms of fearing for their own life, their family’s or loss of their home. Sontag says she feels pity for people because they’re becoming more insensitive to others’ pain and especially in times of war. The way the media depicts war is wave after wave of graphic photographs but this doesn’t invoke people to feel sympathy to one another’s pain.