We’ve all seen the photo, depicting a vulture waiting for the death of a starving Sudanese girl crawling to a UN food centre. Most of us know that the photographer who took the picture won a Pulitzer Prize for it in 1994, and committed suicide three months later.

He was criticized for not helping the girl in the picture and said he did not know what happened to her.

He also said he was haunted by vivid memories of killings, corpses, anger, pain, starving or wounded children, and trigger-happy madmen.

Excerpts from his suicide note:

“depressed . . . without phone . . . money for rent . . . money for child support . . . money for debts . . . money!!! . . . I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain . . . of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners . . . have gone to join Ken if I am that lucky”
Kevin Carter

On the morning of Wednesday, July 27, the last day of his life, Carter appeared cheerful. At around 9 p.m., Kevin Carter backed his red Nissan pickup truck against a blue gum tree at the Field and Study Center. He had played there often as a little boy.

The Sandton Bird Club was having its monthly meeting there, but nobody saw Carter as he used silver gaffer tape to attach a garden hose to the exhaust pipe and run it to the passenger-side window. He got in and switched on the engine. Then he put music on his walkman and lay over on his side, using the knapsack as a pillow.

How depressing…..

Source