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Steve McCurry (born April 23, 1950) is an American photographer,
freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
, and
photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...
. His photo ''
Afghan Girl ''Afghan Girl'' is a 1984 photographic portrait of Sharbat Gula, an Afghan refugee in Pakistan during the Soviet–Afghan War. The photograph, taken by American photojournalist Steve McCurry near the Pakistani city of Peshawar, appeared on the ...
'', of a girl with piercing green eyes, has appeared on the cover of ''
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
'' several times. McCurry has photographed many assignments for ''
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
'' and has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1986. McCurry is the recipient of numerous awards, including Magazine Photographer of the Year, awarded by the National Press Photographers Association; the Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal; and two first-place prizes in the World Press Photo contest (1985 and 1992).


Life and work

McCurry was born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, and attended
Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
. He originally planned to study
cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...
and filmmaking, but instead gained a degree in theater arts and graduated in 1974. He became interested in photography when he started taking pictures for the Penn State newspaper '' The Daily Collegian''. After a year working in India, McCurry traveled to northern
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
where he met two Afghans who told him about the war across the border in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. Disguised in Afghani garb, he crossed the
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
border into rebel-controlled areas of
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
just before the Soviet invasion. "As soon as I crossed the border, I came across about 40 houses and a few schools that were just bombed out," he says. He left with rolls of film sewn into his turban and stuffed in his socks and underwear. These images were subsequently published by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' and ''
Paris Match ''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly gossip magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. ''Paris Match'' has been considered "one of the world's best outlets for photojournalism". ...
'' and won him the Robert Capa Gold Medal for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad. McCurry covered more armed conflicts like the
Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...
, Lebanon Civil War, the
Cambodian Civil War The Cambodian Civil War (, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) was a civil war in Cambodia fought between the Communist Party of Kampuchea (known as the Khmer Rouge, supported by North Vietnam and China) against the government of the Ki ...
, the Islamic insurgency in the Philippines, the
Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
and the Afghan Civil War. McCurry came close to losing his life twice. He was almost drowned in India, and he survived an airplane crash in Yugoslavia. McCurry has had his work featured in magazines worldwide and he is a frequent contributor to National Geographic. On the morning of September 11, 2001, McCurry received a call saying the World Trade Center was on fire. He went up to the roof of his building and started taking photographs, unaware that a plane had hit the towers. He photographed the two towers and their eventual collapse. After the fall of the towers, he ran to Ground Zero with his assistant. He left later that night and went back early on September 12. He had no press credentials and evaded security to access the site. He was eventually caught and escorted off Ground Zero; he did not go back again. McCurry switched from shooting color slide film to digital capture in 2005 for the convenience of editing in the field and transmitting images to photo editors. He said that he had no nostalgia about working in film in an interview with ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
.'' "Perhaps old habits are hard to break, but my experience is that the majority of my colleagues, regardless of age, have switched over... The quality has never been better. You can work in extremely low light situations, for example." McCurry shoots in both film and digital, but has said that he prefers shooting with transparency film.
Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...
gifted him the last roll of
Kodachrome Kodachrome is the brand name for a color reversal film introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1935. It was one of the first successful color materials and was used for both cinematography and still photography. For many years, Kodachrome was widely used ...
film to ever be produced by the company. McCurry shot the roll, which was processed in July 2010 by Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kansas. Most of these photos were published on the Internet by Vanity Fair. McCurry states, "I shot it for 30 years and I have several hundred thousand pictures on Kodachrome in my archive. I'm trying to shoot 36 pictures that act as some kind of wrap up – to mark the passing of Kodachrome. It was a wonderful film." In 2015, he was hired by
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
to take photographs in areas of
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, which were used as wallpapers in
Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...
. In 2019, his book ''Steve McCurry. Animals'' was published by Taschen and is a compilation of his favorite photographs of animals.


''Afghan Girl''

McCurry took ''
Afghan Girl ''Afghan Girl'' is a 1984 photographic portrait of Sharbat Gula, an Afghan refugee in Pakistan during the Soviet–Afghan War. The photograph, taken by American photojournalist Steve McCurry near the Pakistani city of Peshawar, appeared on the ...
'' in December 1984.A Life Revealed- Afghan Girl
''National Geographic''
It portrays an approximately 12-year-old Pashtun orphan in the Nasir Bagh refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan. McCurry found the girl when he heard "unexpected laughter" coming from children inside a one-room school tent for girls. "I noticed this one little girl with these incredible eyes, and I instantly knew that this was really the only picture I wanted to take," he says. This was the first time the girl had ever been photographed. The image was named as "the most recognized photograph" in the history of the ''National Geographic'' magazine, and was used as the cover photograph on the June 1985 issue. The photo has also been widely used on
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
brochures, posters, and calendars. The identity of the "Afghan Girl" remained unknown for over 17 years until McCurry and a ''National Geographic'' team located the woman,
Sharbat Gula Sharbat Gula (; born ) is an Afghan woman who became internationally recognized as the subject in ''Afghan Girl'', a 1984 portrait taken by American photojournalist Steve McCurry that was later published as the cover photograph for the June 1985 ...
, in 2002. McCurry said, "Her skin is weathered; there are wrinkles now, but she is as striking as she was all those years ago."


''Afghan Girl'' controversy

In 2019, vlogger and professional photographer Tony Northrup released a research documentary accusing McCurry of obtaining the photograph under false pretenses, and endangering Gula's wellbeing in doing so. McCurry's publicity team responded by accusing Northrup of slander, and the clip was removed. Shortly thereafter, however, it was re-uploaded with a number of corrections, with an accompanying document that detailed a number of sources Northrup had obtained. Sharbat Gula herself had also previously provided some commentary on the photograph, published by BBC News in 2017.


Photo manipulation

In 2016 McCurry was accused of extensively manipulating his images with Photoshop and by other means, removing individuals and other elements. In a May 2016 interview with PetaPixel, McCurry did not specifically deny making major changes, indicating that he now defines his work as "visual storytelling" and as "art". However, he subsequently added that others print and ship his images while he is travelling, implying that they were responsible for the significant manipulation. "That is what happened in this case. It goes without saying that what happened with this image was a mistake for which I have to take responsibility," he concluded. When discussing the issue with a writer for ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
''s Lightbox website, McCurry provided similar comments about being a "visual storyteller", though without suggesting that the manipulation was done by others without his knowledge. In fact, the ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' writer made the following statement, "Faced with mounting evidence of his own manipulations, McCurry has been forced to address his position in photography." In neither interview did he discuss when the heavy photo manipulation began, or which images have been manipulated. However, considering the controversy it has created, he said that "going forward, I am committed to only using the program in a minimal way, even for my own work taken on personal trips." McCurry also offered the following conclusion to ''Time'' Lightbox, "Reflecting on the situation... even though I felt that I could do what I wanted to my own pictures in an aesthetic and compositional sense, I now understand how confusing it must be for people who think I'm still a photojournalist."


''McCurry, NYC, 911''

In 2016 French comic writer
Jean-David Morvan image:J D Morvan 29431b Bédérama.jpg , Morvan in 2017. Jean-David Morvan (born 28 November 1969) is a French comics author. Morvan studied arts at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels. Morvan started out as a comics artist, but soon realised that ...
and South Korean artist
Kim Jung Gi Kim Jung Gi (legally Kim Jung Ki; ; 7 February 1975 – 3 October 2022) was a South Korean illustrator, cartoonist, and manhwa artist. He was famous for his large, highly detailed illustrations, often drawn only from memory. Biography Ear ...
published a biographical
graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...
about Steve McCurry, titled ''McCurry, NYC, 911''.


''McCurry: The Pursuit of Color''

In 2021, the
documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
biopic entitled ''McCurry: The Pursuit of Color'', directed by Denis Delestrac, produced by Intrepido Films and Polar Star Films and distributed by Dogwoof and Karma Films, was officially selected at the Doc NYC film festival (USA), Festival de Malaga (Spain), and
Glasgow Film Festival The Glasgow Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland. The festival began in 2005. By 2015, the festival had seen audience figures top 40,000 for two consecutive years. It is now considered one of the top film festivals ...
(Scotland) amongst others. The Spanish cinema release was in June 2022.


Awards

* 1987 – Medal of Honor for coverage of the 1986 Philippine Revolution, Philippines, White House News Photographers Association * 1992 – First Place Nature and Environment Oil-Stricken Bird, Kuwait First Place, General News Stories: Kuwait after the Storm Children's Award: "Camels Under a Blackened SKy", World Press Photo Competition * 1992 – Magazine Feature Picture Award of Excellence: Fiery Aliens First Place, Magazine Science Award: Camels Under A Blackended Sky First Place, Gulf News Sky: Kuwait After the Storm, Picture of the Year Competition * 1992 – Oliver Pebbot Memorial Award: Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad on Golf War Coverage, Overseas Press Club * 1993 – Award of Excellence for Rubble of War, National Press Photographers * 1994 – Arts and Architecture Distinguished Alumni Award, Pennsylvania State University * 1998 – Award of Excellence, Portraits: Red Boy, Picture of the Year Competition * 2002 – Award of Excellence for "Women of Afghanistan" * 2002 – Photographer of the Year * 2003 – C-recipient of the New York Film Festival God for documentary, ''Afghan Girl Found'' * 2003 – The Lucie Award for Photojournalism * 2005 – Photojournalism Division – International Understanding through Photography award, Photographic Society of America * 2006 – First Place, Buddha Rising, National Geographic, National Press Photographers Associate * 2011 – Leica Hall of Fame Award * 2014 – Photography of Appreciation Award * 2018 – Golden Doves for Peace journalistic prize issued by the Italian Research Institute Archivio Disarmo * 2019 – Induction into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum


Exhibitions

*2015–2016 – ''Steve McCurry: India,'' Rubin Museum of Art, New York *2015–2016 – ''Steve McCurry – Icons and Women'', Musei di San Domenico, Forlì, Italy * 2016 – ''Steve McCurry: The Iconic Photographs,'' Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong * 2016 – The World Through His Lens: Steve McCurry Photographs, New York, United States * 2017 – The World of Steve McCurry, Brussels, Belgium * 2018 – Steve McCurry Icons, Pavia, Italy * 2018 – 'S Wanderful-Making Pictures – Steve McCurry Solo Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan * 2019 – "Le Monde de Steve McCurry", La Sucrière, Lyon, France *2019 – "Steve's House : permanent exhibition", Kashan, Iran * 2019 – "Food", Musei di San Domenico,
Forlì Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...
, Italy


Publications

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


References


External links

*
One on One With the Masters of Photography
– Interview with McCurry which discuss the techniques of his portrait photography
McCurry's gallery at photographic agency Sud Est57

2013 Pirelli Calendar shot by McCurry


– Interview with McCurry by European culture and arts online magazine ''Culturekiosque'' (2007)

– Interview with McCurry by podcast ''Unfolding Maps'' (2020)
''I Visualize Photo Possibilities Wherever I Am''
– Interview with McCurry by Indian photography web site "Fotoflock.com" (2009) * – Al Jazeera interview by Riz Khan
"It's All Mixed: An Interview with Steve McCurry"
''GUP'' Magazine (2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:McCurry, Steve Living people Magnum photographers American photojournalists Photography in Afghanistan Penn State College of Arts and Architecture alumni Artists from Philadelphia 1950 births National Geographic photographers