Steve
McCurry
For more than 30
years, Steve McCurry has been one of the most iconic voices in contemporary
photography. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, McCurry has influenced many
people with his work. Apart from photography, McCurry has written over a dozen
books and his work has been featured on multiple magazine and book covers. McCurry
has created a very well-known career for himself, one photo that really got the
ball rolling with his success was of his 1984 photograph “Afghan Girl” that had
received its fame through appearing on the cover of National Geographic
magazine.
Steve McCurry is an internationally
known documentary photographer with a specialty in India and south-east Asia.
His photos speak of the little things in everyday life that show the joy as
well as the struggles. McCurry tries to show a story through the photos he
takes and make you feel connected in your own way. The people that live in the countries
filled with conflict and fear such as Pakistan, or poverty and hardships such
as Asia, McCurry does an amazing job of showing a feeling behind each
photograph. He does this to show the rest of the world just how someone’s life
can be completely different in a different culture, country, or continent and why
it’s important to be aware of the things going on in other places.
“What is important to
my work is the individual picture. I photograph stories on assignment, and of
course they have to be put together coherently. But what matters most is that
each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling”
My opinion of how
Steve McCurry influenced people is very individual and self-orientated. A
picture is worth a thousand words and a million thoughts so when an individual,
different from everyone else, sees, not just McCurry’s work, but any photo or
art work, it’s in their own personal opinion of how they interpret the piece.
As for the world, I don’t think his work has effected the world today or even
the world of photography, as there is millions of photos and photographers, but,
for the ones that have seen his work or even just the photo of “Afghan Girl”,
even if they are not familiar with the man behind the camera, we could all
agree that the photo is beautiful.
“I don’t think
pictures are worth dying for, but I don’t want to live life knowing I was
timid”
Steve McCurry was
very devoted to his work and did everything in his power to tell the stories he
thought should be told. When McCurry was 29 he traveled to Pakistan and
witnessed things such as villages being destroyed and innocent people being
killed because the government was trying to impose a new way of life. McCurry
felt that the story of these innocent people needed to be shared. McCurry ended
up smuggling his exposed film out of the country by sewing it into his clothes.
This is just one example of how dedicated McCurry was towards his work and the
people he met on his travels.
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