The Bang-Bang Club
Snapshots from a Hidden War
By Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva
“Let’s go find some bang-bang”
The Bang-Bang club is a group of photographers that banded together to lessen some of the dangers of working in the townships around Johannesburg in the early 90s. The book tells the story of the four (and some of their friends on the periphery) Greg Marinovich, Joao Silva, Kevin Carter, and Ken Oosterbroek and their images. Two of those four are now dead – one shot during the last days of violent uprising in 1994, the other by his own hand after a battle with drugs, the loss of his friend, and criticism over his Pulitzer prize winning photograph caught up with him.
The Bang-Bang club talks about the biggest fear I have as a journalist and photographer. How do you rationalize what you see through the lens, when do you help, why do you do what you do?
I know this isn’t one from my originally African Reading Challenge list – but I had to recommend it! As a photographer, I liked it. As someone interested in South Africa, I liked it. It’s violent, it’s sad, but somewhere in-between is a group of adrenalin-junkie photographers who make their impact on the world. You respect them for what they do – because most of us can’t and we need to see.
1 comment:
this sounds totally fascinating. thank you for sharing!
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