BANGKOK—A decade ago I read the autobiographical book Bang Bang Club about four young white South African photojournalists covering their nation’s painful transition to democracy.
Starring Ryan Phillippe, a movie based on the book is due to be released sometime this year and it follows a 2006 Academy Award nominated documentary about photojournalist Kevin Carter, one of the Bang Bang Club members.
Carter is the best known of the four, especially for his controversial 1993 photo of an emaciated Sudanese child being menacingly shadowed by a vulture, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize. He was also criticized for not helping the child to safety.
Only months after receiving the award, the 33-year-old Carter committed suicide, his death attributed in part to witnessing so much misery.
“I’m really, really sorry,” read his suicide note. “The pain of life overrides the joy to the point that joy does not exist.”
The fate of the starving child is unknown.
Bang Bang Club photographer Ken Oosterbroek also died that same year as Carter; he was shot while covering political violence in Johannesburg, leaving the two surviving members of the club, Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva, to coauthor their book.
Doing my rounds of news editing this week I trawled through images, looking for the most suitable shots that would best support already chosen articles. There were photos of flood victims in Pakistan, a Philippines hostage situation, Kashmir riots, and disfigured acid attack survivors in Cambodia. On the other side of those images was a photographer and I wondered how they were dealing with what they witnessing and recording.
Not long ago central Bangkok was like a war zone, attracting international press in the hundreds for a story that promised a bloody showdown.
What I personally saw on May 19, when the Thai military went on the offensive to drive out the red-shirt anti-government protesters from their fortified encampment, was not pretty. There were 16 people killed and protesters set fire to over 30 buildings at various locations across the Thai capital.
Starring Ryan Phillippe, a movie based on the book is due to be released sometime this year and it follows a 2006 Academy Award nominated documentary about photojournalist Kevin Carter, one of the Bang Bang Club members.
Carter is the best known of the four, especially for his controversial 1993 photo of an emaciated Sudanese child being menacingly shadowed by a vulture, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize. He was also criticized for not helping the child to safety.
Only months after receiving the award, the 33-year-old Carter committed suicide, his death attributed in part to witnessing so much misery.
“I’m really, really sorry,” read his suicide note. “The pain of life overrides the joy to the point that joy does not exist.”
The fate of the starving child is unknown.
Bang Bang Club photographer Ken Oosterbroek also died that same year as Carter; he was shot while covering political violence in Johannesburg, leaving the two surviving members of the club, Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva, to coauthor their book.
Doing my rounds of news editing this week I trawled through images, looking for the most suitable shots that would best support already chosen articles. There were photos of flood victims in Pakistan, a Philippines hostage situation, Kashmir riots, and disfigured acid attack survivors in Cambodia. On the other side of those images was a photographer and I wondered how they were dealing with what they witnessing and recording.
Not long ago central Bangkok was like a war zone, attracting international press in the hundreds for a story that promised a bloody showdown.
What I personally saw on May 19, when the Thai military went on the offensive to drive out the red-shirt anti-government protesters from their fortified encampment, was not pretty. There were 16 people killed and protesters set fire to over 30 buildings at various locations across the Thai capital.
Among those killed was Fabio Polenghi, an Italian photojournalist. It is unclear who killed him, just as it remains unclear who shot dead Hiro Muramoto a Japanese cameraman from Reuters in an April 10 clash between soldiers and protesters.
Nine other journalists were wounded covering the April-May unrest. Both the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders criticized the military and protesters for their lethal recklessness. CPJ also accused the government of doing little to bring anyone to account for any attacks on journalists.
Now framed photos of the turmoil hang on the walls of the local foreign correspondent club which has recently been hosting industry seminars on front line journalism.
How to deal with witnessing disturbing events, how to maintain a sense of compassion in dealing with victims and the importance of how to maintain physical and mental well-being were part of a seminar run by the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.
Perhaps if something such as this was available for Kevin Carter, he might be alive today.
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