Customer Reviews

The Bang Bang Club

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First of all, if I were to rate the content of the book, it's a five star (at least). Exciting, touching, informative - definitely one of my favorite nonfiction books.

Having said that, I unfortunately have to agree with Number Six, who complained about the reproduction quality of the pictures in the book. Originally I bought a different edition in South Africa and now I wanted to buy another one to give it to a friend. The photos of this edition here are horrible, literally like b/w copies from a 30 year old copy machine. This is especially annoying for a book about photography. Note that the pictures are b/w anyway, but the tones and contrast are just so messed up that it's truly embarrassing - definitely not suited as a gift. I recommend to try to get the other edition, it is available on amazon.co.uk from the publisher Arrow Books. Shipping to the US is naturally more expensive, but it's worth it.

I can't even imagine how hard it was for these guys to write this book. Not only did they lose two of their best friends during the period covered by the book, not only did they have to watch people die in front of them, but they've come to realize that the photographs they were taking did not accomplishing what they hoped - to stop the violence. It's a harrowing but rewarding read, a real page turner.

This is a disturbing book. After the first three chapters I put it down and only picked it up again two months later. Perhaps I was just emotionally at low ebb the first time, but the brutal honesty of the descriptions in those first chapters got to me. Even though I am a South African and lived through that eventful period, I was unprepared for the honesty of the authors. At the second attempt I finished the book and am glad that I did as it is really well worth the read.

The book describes the experiences of four well-known South African press photographers, at the peak of the political transition period of the country. Of the four, only two survived. Most South Africans as well as international readers interested in photojournalism, will remember the killing of Ken Oosterbroek by a stray bullet while covering an unrest situation in the townships. And the whole world was shocked by the brilliant photograph of a starving Sudanese child with a vulture patiently waiting in the background. Kevin Carter committed suicide not long after winning a Pulitzer Prize for that image. Although the book deals mainly with their work experiences, it also provides insight in the personal lives of photojournalists. It focuses mainly on events in South Africa, especially during those eventful years in the early nineties. However, there are also references to other African countries. A few months before I read this book, I also read Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa by Keith Richburg. This was another excellent and very honest book by a black American journalist who was assigned to the African Desk of the Washington Post. The combination of these two books gives an excellent perspective on the Dark Continent and scares the hell out of you.

I can strongly recommend both these books. It is a must-read for anyone interested in photojournalism and for people interested in the political transition period of SA. People who enjoy biographies will also appreciate the book.

Not for the weak, The Bang Bang Club takes readers directly to the violence and brutality depicted in the four prize-winning photographs scattered throughout the pages. The writing is down and dirty, like the photographers themselves. But it works because of the subject. Get in click the photo and try not to throw up while you're doing it. Like most Yanks living a cozy life, I didn't know many details about the famous struggles in SA in the early 1990s. And I wouldn't have chosen to read a straight history. But the combination of first-person accounts of tragedy together with terrifically vivid and horrible photos and a gripping tale of danger lurking around every corner makes for an ideal way to learn something about that fascinating and difficult time in world history.

This is an exciting account of South Africa, as observed through the lenses of four "conflict photojournalists", roughly between the time of Mandela's release to South Africa's first non-racial elections. There is a gripping, raw and ultimately, compassionate, quality about the writing, and the photos powerfully convey the horrors that this country went through. Equally enlightening are the insights into conflict photography, and the moral issues that arise by being a witness (and recorder) of human suffering. This book would interest anyone who's ever wondered how conflict photographers get into those crazy situations, the risks they took (sometimes fatal), and the adrenaline-laced thoughts that rush through their minds.

I had purchased this same title through Amazon last year and was thrilled with the quality. However, this time the book was terrible. All the photos were obviously very poorly reproduced, as if they had been made on a black and white copier. I needed this book for our Missions Department at the church where I work, and I was embarrassed to hand this book over to the Director of Missions. The product description should have stated something about the photos. The book I initially bought had color photos on slick paper. Thank you for your time.

THE BANG BANG CLUB, A MOVIE TIE-IN is as fine an introduction to the quality of the film just released, a film based on this book. The political history surrounding South Africa into which the four photographer journalists involve themselves is confusing at best and should be required reading before the audience steps into the grim realities of the cinematic format. Another aspect that makes both the book and the film of utmost importance is this past week's report of the deaths of two brilliant photographer journalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros in a very similar situation in Libya.

South African writer/director Steven Silver adapted this book by Greg Marinovich and Joćo Silva for the screen and using some of the images from the original book and enhanced by reenactment of the horrors by cinematographer Miroslaw Baszak

has successfuly preserved all of the brutality and gore of the situation in South Africa in 1994 - before the country was joined into a nation by Nelson Mandela. Greg Marinovich (Ryan Phillippe) is a free lance photographer in and around Soweto and follows his instincts for a good story by wandering into dangerous territory. He meets the three photographers who produce footage for Star picture editor Robin Comley (Malin Akerman) whose crew consists of pothead Kevin Carter (Taylor Kitsch, in a fine, sensitive performance), Ken Oosterbroek (Frank Rautenbach, a very promising young actor), and Joćo Silva (Neels Van Jaarsveld). After proving his worth with a Pulitzer prize photograph of a burning man the four young men bond closely as the Bang Bang Gang and proceed to capture all of the fighting and incomparably cruel hostilities as the three fighting forces in the struggle for power in South Africa create the chaos of 1994. In a particularly touching scene Kevin photographs a starving child being stalked by a hungry vulture and his photograph wins a second Pulitzer Prize for the group. But war is war and takes is mental and physical tolls on the Bang Bang Gang and only two survive to write the book whose journal like content provides the story for the film.

This is a difficult book to read and the resulting cinematic version is equally as difficult to watch. The cast of characters is excellent down to the smallest cameo appearances by the South African people describing the atrocities that till their existence. An excellent book has been transformed in to an excellent film, albeit a film that is harrowing to watch unfold. Grady Harp, April 11

This is my heart. This is my bone. This is my home. This is the horror. And my hope lies in the next generation who look at us with blank stares and respond with the righteous indignation of the young when we try to explain. And I will hand them "The Bang-Bang Club" and hope that they will then understand where we came from.

Gail Evans.

Compelling personal story of the brave--thrill seeking?--photographers that covered the violence in South Africa's ghettos before Madella's election; and an equally compelling story of the final collapse of the apartheid regime.

A challenging, but totally engrossing read. I found myself pulled back into events that I experienced as a student in 1990's South Africa, and learning and understanding a great deal more about the horrific events that plagued the country at the time. I also found the insights into the personalities of the photo-journalists who covered the conflict to be superb. The internal emotional conflicts of photo-journalists are extremely well covered in the book, and I found myself constantly torn between the need to document and the need to help fellow human beings. In the end, I decided that its always too easy to judge and say what we would have done while reading in a easy chair, or on the beach. Until you've experienced the extremes that the photographers experienced, I think it is best to reserve judgement until understanding fully, and I found that The Bang Bang Club certainly educated me. If anything the dominant feeling I had throughout my reading was of great sadness. Sadness at the death of Oosterbroek, Carter's self destruction, and the general amount of suffering that South Africa endured (and the no less tragic events in the Balkans and Sudan). Honestly, I don't know how you keep your sanity doing this type of work, but I am extremely grateful for the people that bring us the images from the frontline. I am also grateful to Marinovich and Silva for being so open and candid in writing this book. My only regret is that I didn't read it ten years ago. I highly recommend this book.