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The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War Paperback – September 20, 2001
by
Greg Marinovich
(Author),
Joao Silva
(Author),
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
(Foreword)
&
0
more
| Greg Marinovich (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Price | New from | Used from |
During the final, bloody days of South African apartheid, four remarkable young men-photographers, friends, and rivals-banded together
- Reading age9 years and up
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level11 and up
- Dimensions5.98 x 0.67 x 9.02 inches
- PublisherBasic Books
- Publication dateSeptember 20, 2001
- ISBN-100465044131
- ISBN-13978-0465044139
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"The Bang-Bang Club succeeds where other, more self-important histories of the conflict in South Africa have failed." -- -Philadelphia City Paper
About the Author
Greg Marinovich is a documentary filmmaker, photographer, and writer who has won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. A native of South Africa, he lives in Johannesburg.Joao Silva is a free-lance photographer whose honors include South African Press Photographer of the Year for 1992. Born in Lisbon, Portugal, he now lives in Johannesburg. Greg Marinovich is a documentary filmmaker, photographer, and writer who has won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. A native of South Africa, he lives in Johannesburg.Joao Silva is a free-lance photographer whose honors include South African Press Photographer of the Year for 1992. Born in Lisbon, Portugal, he now lives in Johannesburg.
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Product details
- Publisher : Basic Books; First Trade Paper Edition (September 20, 2001)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0465044131
- ISBN-13 : 978-0465044139
- Reading age : 9 years and up
- Grade level : 11 and up
- Item Weight : 1.1 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.98 x 0.67 x 9.02 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,331,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #528 in South African History
- #585 in Photojournalism (Books)
- #1,686 in African Politics
- Customer Reviews:
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Customer reviews
4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
173 global ratings
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2021
Verified Purchase
All the stuff you didn't learn about apartheid in grammar school. Not for the faint of heart. Excellent depiction of how the trauma of war makes an impact on everyone involved.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2016
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This disturbing book must be taken in context. The chaos of apartheid, the 35 mm photography of the day. The violence, the drugs, and the angst. The book sucks you in, and every now and then it spits you back out so you can breathe. Marinovch and Silva (mostly Marinovich, I think) create the swirl of smoke and danger that goes with combat photography. The descriptions of their assignments are vivid and at times heart stopping. They let you feel the physical and emotional toll of being under fire. Awards and prizes they win along the way fade into the haze of what they need to do to themselves to get by. The realization that those "reliefs" are as damaging as the horrors of human violence become evident. We recoil from so much of what war photography depicts, and if you have a sense of art at all you admire the men and women to take those photos. This will let you know some of them, and what they went through to make those images.
5 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2012
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This is a difficult book to read. Stylistically it's well written, but the subject matter is bleak. It is a story of a country that is pulled in so many directions by the factions and ideologies and alliances and bloodlines that twist in on each other. And it is a story that confronts head-on the notion of what an individual can do to make a difference. There are no simple answers or neat happy endings. This is a book I would highly recommend though, if for no other reason than to gain an insight into the people behind the images that we see in our news media. It is easy to forget that while a story may only pass touch our lives for a few minutes, the journalists and photographers who seek them out will carry the memories with them for a lifetime.
5 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2015
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Disturbing in a multitude of ways, this book offers a view of South Africa's "troubles" through the lens of adrenaline junkie photojournalists. It also offers a look at what constant exposure to violence and suffering of all kinds has on the human psyche of those who bear witness to it. Tough questions rise, not the least of which is the ethics involved in profiting from the suffering of others.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2015
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One of the best books I have ever read. Material sticks with you and lingers. I got a copy for a friend, and have let friends thumb through it. You say you are going to read just a few pages, but hours past before you put it down. Conversations with people who have read this book are never boring. I would highly recommend this book. BTW, stay away from the movie. The movie did not do this book justice.
4 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2022
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Well written, you feel you are in the action
could not put it down
could not put it down
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2015
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This is a book truly deserving of a five star rating. It clears up a lot of the controversy surrounding the suicide of Pulitzer winner Kevin Carter. It is a well written and intimate insider view of the emergence of democracy in South Africa and the end of apartheid. It is well illustrated and has a very practical glossary. It is tremendous value for the reader and it will not disappoint.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2014
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A philosophical ethic's book that is easy to read. A great story about photographers that makes a living by risking their lives to obtain controversial pictures of war. It also addresses an ethical issue of a picture taken regarding a child starving while a vulture awaits her death. a Must read and apply your own moral values to enjoy.
Top reviews from other countries
Blearyeyedboy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kevin Carter
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2019Verified Purchase
Wanted to read this for many years after becoming interested in the story of Kevin Carter, initially at least because of the Manic Street Preachers song of the same name.
For those who don’t know, you’ll gave probably seen his most famous photograph of a vulture seemingly eyeing up a malnourished baby in Africa. It won Carter the Purlitzer prize which is a major honour but it also haunted him.
The book is a great read, plenty of images and tells the story of South Africa during its move from apartheid to democracy and the pain they all went through.
I bought my copy used, via an Amazon 3rd party seller. No issues.
For those who don’t know, you’ll gave probably seen his most famous photograph of a vulture seemingly eyeing up a malnourished baby in Africa. It won Carter the Purlitzer prize which is a major honour but it also haunted him.
The book is a great read, plenty of images and tells the story of South Africa during its move from apartheid to democracy and the pain they all went through.
I bought my copy used, via an Amazon 3rd party seller. No issues.
KBJ
5.0 out of 5 stars
A first hand account of an unofficial civil war
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2021Verified Purchase
Simply wonderful, a narrative of the personal toil that the pressure of reporting conflict exerts on those involved and the what it takes to survive or not. One of the three books you should read to understand modern day South Africa along with Nelson Mandels’s Long Walk to Freedom and Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime.
J. Reeves
5.0 out of 5 stars
More than just about photographers...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 6, 2013Verified Purchase
This is a superb account of the photographers who risked their lives to tell the story of the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa between 1990 and 1994. It is however also much more. It is also a social commentary on what was happening in the places in South Africa where white people simply did not go... and did not know what was really happening. I grew up in Brackendowns, a stones throw from Thokoza where much of the book is set, yet as a teenager I was mostly naive to what was happening there. This is an excellent book for anyone interested in the history and politics of apartheid and the "New" South Africa.
4 people found this helpful
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L C HUIANU
5.0 out of 5 stars
IT IS A BANG BANG BOOK!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2019Verified Purchase
With the time passing all the wars become hidden so, from time to time and if you find people that can tell the truth about the events on the ground then buy it. THE BANG BANG CLUB is one of those!!
anna
5.0 out of 5 stars
great book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 20, 2020Verified Purchase
arrived today, can't wait to read it again (read it 9years ago)
Who likes war-reportage and journalism photography and a bit of history (apartheid in South Africa) will be glad to read it although it is quite gruesome in parts
Who likes war-reportage and journalism photography and a bit of history (apartheid in South Africa) will be glad to read it although it is quite gruesome in parts






