Steve Mccurry

Steve McCurry, recognized universally as one of today’s finest image-makers, has won many of photography’s top awards.  Best known for his evocative color photography, McCurry, in the finest documentary tradition, captures the essence of human struggle and joy.  Member of Magnum Photos since 1986, McCurry has searched and found the unforgettable; many of his images have become modern icons.  Born in Philadelphia, McCurry graduated cum laude from the College of Arts and Architecture at the Pennsylvania State University.  After working at a newspaper for two years, he left for India to freelance. It was in India that McCurry learned to watch and wait on life. “If you wait,” he realized, “people will forget your camera and the soul will drift up into view.”

Steve McCurry has covered many areas of international and civil conflict, including the Iran-Iraq war, the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, Beirut, Cambodia, the Philippines, the Gulf War, and continuing coverage of Afghanistan. He focuses on the human consequences of war, not only showing what war impresses on the landscape, but rather, on the human face.

A high point in his career was the rediscovery of the previously unidentified Afghan refugee girl that many have described as the most recognizable photograph in the world today. When McCurry finally located Sharbat Gula after almost two decades, he said, “Her skin is weathered; there are wrinkles now, but she is a striking as she was all those years ago.” McCurry returned from an extended assignment in China on September 10, 2001. His coverage at Ground Zero on September 11 is a testament to the heroism and nobility of the people of New York City. “You felt the horror and immediately, instinctively understood that our lives would never be the same again.”