A Perspective on Compassion

Fostering Transitions AmeriCorps

2012-2013

Instructions

• Number a paper 1-8, leaving a line or two to

write after each number.

• View the slides in order.

• Read each slide fully and complete the

instructions before moving on to the next one.

“Vulture Stalking a Child” Sudan, 1993

Photo credit: Kevin Carter

1. Look at the picture. Write down a few words that

describe the feelings evoked by this picture.

Perspective

• This picture was taken in Sudan, Africa, in 1993 by a South African photojournalist named Kevin Carter. The Sudanese people were in the middle of a severe famine caused by civil unrest and a corrupt government.

• The girl in the photograph is trying to reach a UN relief station to receive food and medical care.

• Carter spent 20 minutes setting up his shot, then left the girl. He did not help her.

2. Write down several words that describe how you feel

about the girl in the photo, as well as about the

photographer.

Perspective

• Kevin Carter received the 1994 Pulitzer Prize

for this photo, which brought him widespread

notoriety and attention.

• Three months later, he committed suicide.

3. Write down a few words that describe how you feel

about the girl in the photo, as well as about the

photographer.

Perspective

• The girl’s parents were nearby when this

photo was taken, at the UN food relief station

receiving food and supplies for their family.

• After he took the photo, Kevin Carter chased

the vulture away from the girl.

4. Write down a few words that describe how you feel

about the girl in the photo, as well as about the

photographer.

Perspective

• It was later announced that the girl in the

picture had been able to walk to the food

station. Her welfare after that day is

unknown.

5. Write down a few words that describe how

you feel about the girl in the photo, as well as

about the photographer.

Perspective

• Kevin Carter received widespread criticism for

this photo. Some said that he was “as

predatory as the vulture.” He was criticized

for not helping the child, and accused of

caring more about the photograph than the

person in it.

6. Write down a few words that describe how you feel

about the girl in the photo, as well as about the

photographer.

Perspective

• Photojournalists in Africa in the 1980s and

1990s were told never to touch the victims of

malnutrition or disease, as they could easily

spread diseases to these vulnerable people.

• Kevin Carter later said that he wished he’d

ignored that rule and carried the child to the

relief station.

7. Write down a few words that describe how you feel

about the girl in the photo, as well as about the

photographer.

Perspective

• Kevin Carter spent years documenting the atrocities committed against the people in Africa in the 1980s and 1990s.

• He and two friends are credited with exposing the harsh realities of apartheid to the world, and bringing international attention to the plight of many suffering African people.

continued on the next slide…

Perspective

• Kevin Carter committed suicide in 1994, a few months after a close friend was killed and another seriously wounded while attempting to chronicle a violent uprising in South Africa.

• His suicide note read, “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…I have gone to join Ken [his friend who died] if I am that lucky.” He left behind a young daughter.

8. Write down a few words that describe how

you feel about the girl in the photo, as well as

about the photographer.

Questions

to be answered in OnCorps

• How did the words you wrote about the girl in the photograph and the photographer change as you gained perspective?

• What is compassion? How does it differ from pity?

• How does perspective affect compassion?

• How does your perspective about the people we serve affect your compassion? How does it affect your service?