Bang-Bang Club

The Bang Bang Club was a group of photographers and photojournalists active within the townships of South Africa between 1990 and 1994, during the transition from the apartheid system to democracy.[1] This period saw much black on black factional violence, particularly fighting between ANC and IFP supporters, after the lifting of the bans on both political parties.

Kevin Carter, Greg Marinovich, Ken Oosterbroek, and João Silva were the four associated with the name, although a number of photographers and photojournalists worked alongside them (such as James Nachtwey and Gary Bernard). A movie about the group, directed by Steven Silver and starring Taylor Kitsch, Ryan Phillippe and Malin Åkerman, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2010.[2]

History

The name "The Bang Bang Club" was born out of an article published in the South African magazine Living. Originally named The Bang Bang Paparazzi, it was changed to "Club" because the members felt the word paparazzi misrepresented their work. The name comes from the culture itself; township residents spoke to the photographers about the "bang-bang" in reference to violence occurring within their communities, but more literally, "bang-bang" refers to the sound of gunfire and is a colloquialism used by conflict photographers.

On 18 April 1994, during a firefight between the National Peacekeeping Force and African National Congress supporters in the Thokoza township, friendly fire killed Oosterbroek and seriously injured Marinovich. An inquest into Oosterbroek's death began in 1995. The magistrate ruled that no party should be blamed for the death. In 1999, peacekeeper Brian Mkhize told Marinovich and Silva that he believed that the bullet that killed Oosterbroek had come from the National Peacekeeping Force.

In July 1994, Carter committed suicide.

On 23 October 2010, Silva stepped on a landmine while on patrol with US soldiers in Kandahar, Afghanistan and lost both legs below the knee.[3][4]

Awards

Two members won Pulitzer Prizes for their photography. Greg Marinovich won the Pulitzer for Spot News Photography in 1991 for his coverage of the killing of Lindsaye Tshabalala in 1990. Kevin Carter won the Pulitzer for Featured Photography in 1994 for his 1993 photograph of a vulture that appeared to be stalking a starving child in southern Sudan.

Books

In 2000, Marinovich and Silva published The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War, a book documenting their experiences.

Films

Dramatic feature

A film adaptation of Marinovich and Silva's book was shot on location in Thokoza township by South African documentary film-maker Steven Silver.[5] Marinovich worked as a consultant on the film[6] which starred Ryan Phillippe as Greg Marinovich, Taylor Kitsch as Kevin Carter and Neels Van Jaarsveld as João Silva.[7]

Documentaries

A documentary entitled The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club was nominated for an Academy Award in 2006.

A documentary entitled When Under Fire: Shoot Back! premiered at the Denver Film Festival in November 2014. [8]

Music

The Bang-Bang Club are referenced in the 1996 Manic Street Preachers song "Kevin Carter" that features the lyric "Bang-Bang Club, AK-47 Hour." The album "Poets and Madmen" by Savatage is inspired by the life of Kevin Carter.

Reception

The work by the members of the Bang-Bang Club between 1990 and 1994 was well known in South Africa. The fight against apartheid on the way to democracy was becoming a bloodbath at this time, how Desmond M. Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa wrote in the Foreword of the book „The Bang-bang Club: Snapshots From A Hidden War“, 2000. The story of this fight needed to told to the world, Tutu wrote. [9]

“ We were greatly blessed to have some of the most gifted journalists and brilliant photographers. They helped to tell the story. They captured some riveting moments on film, such as a gruesome necklacing (Kevin Carter), and the barbaric turning on a helpless victim by a baying crowd from one or other side of the conflict (Greg Marinovich).[10] ”

That the work by the Bang-Bang club was affecting the life of the photographers too, that was Tutu evident when he wrote: „And we know a little about the cost of being traumatized that drove some to suicide, that, yes, these people were human beings operating under the most demanding of conditions.“ [11]

Greg Marinovich, the writer in the team of the book The Bang-bang Club: Snapshots From A Hidden War , wrote in the preface “The name gives a mental image of a group of hard-living men wo worked, played and hung out together pretty much all of the time.”

“ Let us set the record straight: there never was such a creature, there never was a club, and there never were just the four of us in some kind of silver halide cult - dozens of journalists covered the violence during the period from Nelson Mandela's release from jail to the first fully democratic election.[12] ”

About the key member of the Bang-Bang Club and what this four men bound together Greg Marinovich explained:

“ We discovered that one of the strongest links among us was questions about the morality of what we do: when do you press the shutter release and when do you cease being a photographer?[13] ”

See also

References

  1. ↑ Desmond M. Tutu: The Bang-bang Club: Snapshots From A Hidden War, Basic Books, Perseus Books Group, USA, 2000, p. ix (9)
  2. ↑ Evans, Ian (2010), "The Bang Bang Club premiere - 35th Toronto International Film Festival", DigitalHit.com, retrieved 2012-04-07
  3. ↑ Philip, Rowan (24 October 2010). "War photographer maimed in blast". Times LIVE. Archived from the original on 15 February 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  4. ↑ "Support Joao Silva Photojournalist". Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  5. ↑ "Akerman & Phillippe Join Bang-Bang Club". Empire Online. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  6. ↑ "South Africa's Bang Bang Club goes Hollywood". BBC News. 4 May 2009. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  7. ↑ "Akerman, Phillippe & Kitsch Join Bang Bang Club". comingsoon.net. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  8. ↑ "When Under Fire: Shoot Back!".
  9. ↑ Desmond M. Tutu: The Bang-bang Club: Snapshots From A Hidden War, Basic Books Perseus Books Group, USA, 2000, p. ix (9)
  10. ↑ Desmond M. Tutu: The Bang-bang Club: Snapshots From A Hidden War, Basic Books Perseus Books Group, USA, 2000, p. ix (9)
  11. ↑ Desmond M. Tutu: The Bang-bang Club: Snapshots From A Hidden War, Basic Books Perseus Books Group, USA, 2000, p. xi (11)
  12. ↑ Greg Marinovich: The Bang-bang Club: Snapshots From A Hidden War, Basic Books Perseus Books Group, USA, 2000, p. xiii (13)</
  13. ↑ Greg Marinovich: The Bang-bang Club: Snapshots From A Hidden War, Basic Books Perseus Books Group, USA, 2000, p. xiii (13)</
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