Visual Communication Term Paper
Introduction
The photo The Struggling Girl by Kevin Carter, was a war photograph that brought the attention of millions to the struggle of Sudan. In this paper the photo will be broken down and analyzed into six unique perspectives that the class of COMM 300 learned about all semester. These perspectives are as follow: the personal perspective, which is what my thoughts of the image were after first seeing it. The second is the historical perspective, giving the reader some insight on the background this photo. Third is the technical perspective, which shows how the photograph was made and why the photographer constructed this image in this particular manner. The fourth perspective is the ethical relation, which …show more content…
The relatively large African country was in the midst of a civil war that not only was taking the lives of thousands, but was also destroying most of the farmlands and diminishing the food supply for millions of people. These factors created what is known as the Sudan Famine Crisis of 1993, this environment is what allowed the photographer Kevin Carter to take one of the most controversial photos to ever hit the front page of The New York Times. It started when Carter was traveling near the village of Ayod. The young photographer found a girl who had stopped to rest, while struggling to reach a United Nations resupply center. As Carter spotted the little girl he had found that a vulture had landed nearby. Being careful not to disturb the deadly vulture, Carter waited for more than twenty minutes until the bird of prey was close enough for a perfect shot. Carter positioned himself for the best possible image and only after capturing it did he chase the vulture …show more content…
All that could be said is that the girl was waiting for her parents to get back from their journey to a U.N. resupply truck. Little is known of the girls’ final fate. During the second Sudanese Civil War, there was large concern for those in the United Nations, as this war was the collimation of millions perishing due to mass killings and famine. The United States as well as its global counterpart continually tried to intervene and prevent more loss of human life. In the photo, you can see the tribal beading commonly known as Ghana beads, worn by the little girl. These beads hold cultural significance as they usually represent an age-old ritual of females coming of age. These Ghana beads are worn to signify one’s age as well as what tribe they are from. The color of the girls is white meaning fertility. The beads can be seen as heartless when seen though the culture of American standards as she is not old enough to bare children. However, in the culture of the Sudanese they do not live to the fullest extent that Americans live. The previous actions and motives to help the people of Sudan before this photo made the front cover were minuscule if not nonexistent. Those in the United States were too “busy” living their own lives to pay attention to the atrocities going on around the world. After this
Introduction
The photo The Struggling Girl by Kevin Carter, was a war photograph that brought the attention of millions to the struggle of Sudan. In this paper the photo will be broken down and analyzed into six unique perspectives that the class of COMM 300 learned about all semester. These perspectives are as follow: the personal perspective, which is what my thoughts of the image were after first seeing it. The second is the historical perspective, giving the reader some insight on the background this photo. Third is the technical perspective, which shows how the photograph was made and why the photographer constructed this image in this particular manner. The fourth perspective is the ethical relation, which …show more content…
The relatively large African country was in the midst of a civil war that not only was taking the lives of thousands, but was also destroying most of the farmlands and diminishing the food supply for millions of people. These factors created what is known as the Sudan Famine Crisis of 1993, this environment is what allowed the photographer Kevin Carter to take one of the most controversial photos to ever hit the front page of The New York Times. It started when Carter was traveling near the village of Ayod. The young photographer found a girl who had stopped to rest, while struggling to reach a United Nations resupply center. As Carter spotted the little girl he had found that a vulture had landed nearby. Being careful not to disturb the deadly vulture, Carter waited for more than twenty minutes until the bird of prey was close enough for a perfect shot. Carter positioned himself for the best possible image and only after capturing it did he chase the vulture …show more content…
All that could be said is that the girl was waiting for her parents to get back from their journey to a U.N. resupply truck. Little is known of the girls’ final fate. During the second Sudanese Civil War, there was large concern for those in the United Nations, as this war was the collimation of millions perishing due to mass killings and famine. The United States as well as its global counterpart continually tried to intervene and prevent more loss of human life. In the photo, you can see the tribal beading commonly known as Ghana beads, worn by the little girl. These beads hold cultural significance as they usually represent an age-old ritual of females coming of age. These Ghana beads are worn to signify one’s age as well as what tribe they are from. The color of the girls is white meaning fertility. The beads can be seen as heartless when seen though the culture of American standards as she is not old enough to bare children. However, in the culture of the Sudanese they do not live to the fullest extent that Americans live. The previous actions and motives to help the people of Sudan before this photo made the front cover were minuscule if not nonexistent. Those in the United States were too “busy” living their own lives to pay attention to the atrocities going on around the world. After this