respect from Bangladesh.

My family was suffered in 1948 & 1971 as uprooted from the homeland.It is not possible to anybody to feel or understand the situation either he goes through it.Raghu Dada captured the pain and agony of those people who were slaughtered by the knife of freedom.My pillow becomes wet as I remember my grand parents…

Sanjay Austa Pleasure…. Carter has unfortunately exited the scene and left behind a legacy full of controversy but he has for sure made a great mark in the annals of photographic history with a seminal take that defines poverty, warfare, Africa and humanity. The image is not going to vanish in anyone’s mind anytime soon.
Most photographic takes do get staged specially when it comes to reportage that is going live.The idea is how the viewer sees the frame. If the timely appearance of a vulture from the nearby refuse pits makes a great frame behind an impoverished child, than it is a great story any photographer, editor or media business would lap it up gladly. And they did.
It is a fabulous photo opp.

Not only the war or reportage but even in the world of nature photography you will find photos that are kind of unsettling. While Carter did not stage the shot but only misrepresented the setting, take the case of Shikhei Goh who not only staged a rainfall with a sprayer but a live dragon fly on a stick to win the National Geographic 2011 contest.

Here is a link to the actual photograph with the rainfall and storm of Goh’s chicanery.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/snapshots-of-a-beautiful-worldfrom-the-2011-national-geographic-photography-contest/story-e6freuy9-1226242988653

Anoop thanks for sharing that link . I had read that piece. But i wonder if one one can see more of Parek’s photos than those few already available on the net. As for Carter perhaps Rai is wrong. But i think the most credible account has to be by Carter’s fellow photographers and they seem to be pointing towards the same thing in their book – The Bang Bang Club.

I have photographed in active conflict zones/disaster zones and the aftermaths – It’s a thin red line..to decide ‘ whether the one should intervene or be a witness’ – we cannot really judge a photographer’s actionat that moment, sitting outside that moment. A lot of things go on there and the photographer many a times may not have much time to think, what would be the pressures on her/him we don’t know. So I wouldn’t criticize anyone shooting in conflict zones, I wouldn’t pass a judgement..

Mahesh , Madhu the best account of how it happened is in the book- The Bang Bang Club written by the photojournalists who worked with him. According to them Carter changed his version of what happened so many times that he could not be relied on. Ironically the most scathing criticism of Carter came from the NYT photo-editor who had published the photo first.

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/books/of-misery-and-glory

I was reading a long article the other day comparing the photography of Kishore Parek on the Bangladesh War and it would be a great read if I could locate it and link It.

Let me give that a try.