How to understand the composition and tone of the photo of Hungry Sudan?

In this work, a Sudanese girl with a head as big as a bucket and skinny bones is about to starve to death and kneels on the ground, while a vulture is not far behind the girl, watching eagerly, waiting to prey on the girl. .

The composition of this photo is the ordinary rule of thirds (the "well" composition method). The raptor and the little girl are respectively located at the upper left and lower right points of the four intersections of the "well"; it is empty. The environment makes the two subjects more prominent, and a powerful raptor staring covetously and a vulnerable child lying on the ground dying, which should not be together, appear in the same picture.

The strength of birds and the weakness of children form a huge contrast with people's normal thinking, giving people a stronger visual and ideological impact. The color is the imaging effect of ordinary color film, and there is basically no post-processing; under the strong sunlight at noon, coupled with the empty and desolate environment, it highlights the drought of the African land at that time.

Photographic composition is related to factors such as light, color, and lines in the picture, and requires their cooperation. However, they can only play a supporting role. From a technical level, the most important thing in composition is to use the above factors to construct the most important posture or form on the picture, so that the viewer can perceive the center of gravity and theme of the picture at a glance.

But in the final analysis, technology must serve the theme. The ultimate goal of composition is to better reflect the theme of the photo, which is the most important thing. This picture that shocked the world, "The Hungry Sudan", is technically a balanced composition, with the main form prominent and clear, and the little girl and the vulture visually echoing each other.

If we only look at the overall composition, the author just captured the scene. He came across good content and photographed it, but the composition and camera position were not very good. This is photojournalism, which only records this cruel reality, and is very average in terms of art.

So, the technical content of this photo is not high, it is just some basic techniques (but the basic skills are solid), and it is a captured photo. The key reason why it won the award is not the quality of the photo taken, but the information it contains, which gives people a shocking feeling and highlights the great famine in Sudan.

Extended information:

In 1993, Sudan experienced frequent wars and a great famine. South African freelance photojournalist Kevin Carter came to the scene of war and poverty. , an interview with the hungry African country Sudan. One day, he saw a shocking scene: a skinny Sudanese little girl could no longer walk on the way to a food relief center and fell to the ground.

Not far away, a huge vulture squatted, staring greedily at the dying and thin life on the ground, waiting for the "delicious meal" that was about to arrive. Kevin Carter snapped this shot.

On March 26, 1993, the famous American newspaper "The New York Times" published this photo of Kevin Carter for the first time. Then, other media quickly spread it around the world, sparking strong reactions among people in various countries. This was the photo that later won the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Hungry Sudan