The photographer, the girl and the vulture: the case of Kevin Carter from an ethical perspective

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Óscar Colorado Nates

Abstract

Photographer Kevin Carter committed suicide shortly after receiving the Pulitzer Prize for a photograph he made in Africa where a vulture seems to stalk a hungry child. Although the common place has been to accuse the reason for the photojournalist’s suicide for remorse, the ethical dilemma is much more complex and the context of the case deserves a more thorough review of the facts and situations that led Carter to end his own life.

Article Details


Author Biography

Óscar Colorado Nates, Universidad Panamericana, Campus Ciudad de México, Escuela de Comunicación

Doctor «cum laude» en Ciencias de la Documentación por la Universidad Complutense de Madrid y Máster en Narrativa y Producción Digital por la Universidad Panamericana (Cd. de México) donde es Investigador de Tiempo Completo y Profesor Titular de la Cátedra de Fotografía Avanzada así como Docente de Posgrado en Nuevas Narrativas.Fundador del Observatorio de Cultura Fotográfica. Miembro del Seminario de Imagen y Cultura, la Asociación Mexicana de Estudios en Estética (AMEST), el Seminario Permanente de Análisis y Crítica Cinematográfica (SEPANCINE) y de The Photographic Historical Society (Rochester, NY), entre otras agrupaciones académicas. Participa en el Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos para Innovar y Mejorar la Educación (PAPIME) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

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