In our latest article in the series, “The Greatest Photographers ever,” we’ll present a small story by the photographer responsible for one of the most iconic photographs of all time: American Steve McCurry.
In 1979, he traveled to Afghanistan to cover the conflict in the region, so he was already a renowned photographer and regular contributor to the US magazine National Geographic, and in 1980 he reached a point that would be decisive in his career: he crossed the rebel-controlled Afghanistan-Pakistan border, dressed as a native. He went unnoticed with the scrolls of photos hidden among his clothes.
- This act allowed him to show.
- Through photographs.
- Striking images of a war-torn area.
- Making the world understand the cruel reality of conflict in that region.
- This achievement earned him the “Robert Capa” award.
- Best photographic reporting.
- Awarded only to the best photographers who bear witness to his exceptional courage and dedication in the profession.
Since then, Steve McCurry has covered areas of war, both international and civil, including tension between Iran and Iraq, disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, and countless other conflicts: in Beirut, Philippines, in the Gulf War, Burma, Kashmir. Yemen.
But it’s a concrete photo that has turned his life around and made him one of the most famous photojournalists in the world. It was 1984, that McCurry was photographing in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan, until a 12-year-old girl attracted her. attention: it was Shabart Gula, an Afghan woman who had lost her parents in a Soviet bombing in Afghanistan.
The photograph nicknamed? Afghan Girl? It appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine in the June 1985 issue. The image of his face with a cloth wrapped around his head and his green eyes looking directly at the camera has become a symbol of the conflict between Afghans and the refugee situation around the world. Gula’s photo, distinguished by its chromatic composition (McCurry’s characteristic), has been named the most recognized photograph in the magazine’s history.
Steve McCurry is one of the greatest photographers in history who still works, perhaps what draws attention throughout his work is a question: how to portray with such humanity places that suffer historical conflicts day after day?Areas permeated precisely by lack of empathy. ? The answer is in the eyes of your photographers. A frightened look, however, with enormous hope. Very few photography professionals know how to represent a look as well as he does, with the incredible talent to capture feelings, soul.