The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War

Description

A powerful and moving book of war photography from Pulitzer Prize-winning photographers and war correspondents, providing an unprecedented insider view of the final years of apartheid. A must-buy for anyone interested in South African history and war photography. Adapted into a hit film starring Ryan Phillippe. The Bang-Bang Club was a group of four young war photographers, friends and colleagues- Ken Oosterbroek, Kevin Carter, Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva, war correspondants during the last years of apartheid, who took many of the photographs that encapsulate the final violent years of racist white South Africa. Two of them won Pulitzer Prizes for individual photos. Ken, the oldest and a mentor to the others, died, accidentally shot while working; Kevin, the most troubled of the four, committed suicide weeks after winning his Pulitzer for a photograph of a starving baby in the Sudanese famine. Written by Greg and Joao, The Bang-Bang Club tells their uniquely powerful war stories. It tells the story of four remarkable young men, the stresses, tensions and moral dilemmas of working in situations of extreme violence, pain and suffering, the relationships between the four and the story of the end of apartheid. An immensely powerful, riveting and harrowing book, and an invakuable contribution to the literary genre of war photography. An eye-opening book for readers of Susan Sontag.

Sales Points* Foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu* A powerful exploration of war reporting, to stand alongside the classic Vietnam memoirs of Don McCullin and Jon Swain* Critical acclaim for The Bang-Bang Club:--'a compelling account of what it is like to be a war correspondent in one's own country... [a] superbly told story' Independent on Sunday-- 'a device of searing pain- as painful a loss of innocence as any I have read anywhere- powerful and heartbreaking- Not for the faint-hearted, and not for the beach, The Bang-Bang Club is a must, though' The Times--'This is the most honest account I have read of what it feels like to be a war photographer and what drives such brave, some would say reckless, individuals to risk their lives.' Daily Mail--'What distinguishes this account is its honesty-. A gripping book where emotions are laid bare- [Marinovich and Silva] confront the basic ethical and moral issues which most of us rarely have to think about as we glide along in our conformable Western lives.' Yorkshire Post--'a splendid book, devastating in what it reveals' Archbishop Desmond Tutu

This is the most honest account I have read of what it feels like to be a war photographer and what drives such brave, some would say reckless, individuals to risk their lives. * Daily Mail * A splendid book, devastating in what it reveals -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu What distinguishes this account is its honesty-. A gripping book where emotions are laid bare- [Marinovich and Silva] confront the basic ethical and moral issues which most of us rarely have to think about as we glide along in our conformable Western lives. * Yorkshire Post * a compelling account of what it is like to be a war correspondent in one's own country... [a] superbly told story * Independent on Sunday * a device of searing pain- as painful a loss of innocence as any I have read anywhere- powerful and heartbreaking- Not for the faint-hearted, and not for the beach, The Bang-Bang Club is a must, though. * The Times *