false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173308669m/271543.jpg 271543 7 Most people, upon hearing gunfire, would run away and hide. Conflict photojournalists have the opposite reaction: they actually look for trouble, and when they find it, get as close as possible and stand up to get the best shot. This thirst for the shot and the seeming nonchalance to the risks entailed earned Greg Marinovich, Joao Silva, Ken Oosterbroek, and Kevin Carter the moniker of the Bang-Bang Club. Oosterbroek was killed in township violence just days before South Africa's historic panracial elections. Carter, whose picture of a Sudanese child apparently being stalked by a vulture won him a Pulitzer Prize, killed himself shortly afterwards. Another of their posse, Gary Bernard, who had held Oosterbroek as he died, also committed suicide.<p> <I>The Bang-Bang Club</I> is a memoir of a time of rivalry, comradeship, machismo, and exhilaration experienced by a band of young South African photographers as they documented their country's transition to democracy. We forget too easily the political and ethnic violence that wracked South Africa as apartheid died a slow, spasmodic death. Supporters of the ANC and Inkatha fought bloody battles every day. The white security forces were complicit in fomenting and enabling some of the worst violence. All the while, the Bang-Bang Club took pictures. And while they did, they were faced with the moral dilemma of how far they should go in pursuit of an image, and whether there was a point at which they should stop their shooting and try to intervene. <p> This is a riveting and appalling book. It is simply written--these guys are photographers, not writers--but extremely engaging. They were adrenaline junkies who partied hard and prized the shot above all else. None of them was a hero; these men come across as overweeningly ambitious, egotistical, reckless, and selfish, though also brave and even principled. As South Africans, they were all invested in their country's future, even though, as whites, they were strangers in their own land as they covered the Hostel wars in the black townships. The mixture of the romantic appeal of the war correspondent with honest assessments of their personal failings is part of what makes this account so compelling and so singular among books of its ilk. <I>--J. Riches</I> 263261 2000 The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War total:131|5:50|4:49|3:29|2:2|1:1| 131 538 192 24 4 2 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Jan 14 09:15:08 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 09:17:20 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2002 Wed Oct 15 04:00:33 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 15 04:10:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Apr 13 13:18:26 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 13:18:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Nov 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Oct 06 20:15:23 -0700 2009 Sat Nov 07 16:42:47 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 29 16:59:42 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 16:13:10 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 29 16:59:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Mar 23 13:08:40 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 03 19:38:47 -0700 2007
...Unfortunately, I just got a paperback copy of the book and the reproductio...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 11 02:53:17 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 16 12:55:38 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Feb 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 22:12:20 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 22:27:11 -0800 2009 South Africa at the run-up to their first democratic elections - a critical and extremely violent time - as seen, experienced and photgraphed by a small group of white south africans largely in the microcosm of Johannesburg's black township ghettos. The book als...more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Jul 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 14:35:49 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 14:38:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Fri Dec 07 23:48:23 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 08 00:08:06 -0800 2007
It provides an interesting witness to history and serves a reminder that war is primal, no techno-toys, no parades, no hyped so...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Thu Oct 22 09:38:30 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 09:39:59 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Jul 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 22:37:51 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 12:30:01 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun May 17 10:28:53 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 10:29:14 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 10 08:09:59 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 13 20:36:32 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Dec 18 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 31 15:37:33 -0700 2008 Thu Dec 18 20:31:04 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Mon Mar 31 13:56:57 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 31 14:00:44 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Tue Oct 30 10:20:25 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 30 10:29:03 -0700 2007 Its a moving but depressing documenatation of apartheid era S Africa as seen through the lenses of some troubled souls]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jun 01 01:28:09 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 01 01:29:57 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Tue Sep 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 02 10:52:38 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 22 11:25:18 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Feb 27 08:25:43 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 27 09:02:42 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=271543