Steve McCurry(English) Steve McCurry, R. 1950) - contemporary American photographer, photojournalist, editor. His photograph became widely known "Afghan Girl".
Biography, creativity
Steve McCurry born February 24, 1950 in Philadelphia, USA. He graduated magna cum laude from Pennsylvania State University in 1974 with a degree in theater arts. McCurry took his first photographs for the university newspaper, The Daily Collegian.
After graduating from university, Steve McCurry spent some time taking photographs for the small newspaper Today's Post in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, after which he left for India, where he worked as a freelance photographer.
Shortly before the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, Steve McCurry, together with journalist Debra Denker, dressed in inconspicuous clothes, illegally crossed the border into Pakistan in a zone that was at that time controlled by the rebels. Later, when he left the war zone, he had to sew the footage into his clothes. Subsequently, his photographs were published in magazines such as The New York Times, TIME and Paris Match. In addition, for his work, the photographer was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal (award in the field of photojournalism) for the best photo report from abroad.
In subsequent years, McCurry continued to cover armed conflicts. Among others, he worked during the Iran-Iraq War, the Lebanese Civil War, the Cambodian Islamic Insurgency Civil War in the Philippines, the Gulf War, and the Afghan Civil War. His photographs were often published in National Geographic magazine. Steve McCurry has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1986.
In 2001, Steve McCurry's work was exhibited at the Leo Burnett International Art Exhibition with Italian artist Umberto Pettinicchio in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 2003, the documentary film "The Face of the Human Condition" was released, directed by Denis Delistrak about the life and work of McCurry.
In 2005, Steve McCurry stopped using film. He explained his decision by saying that digital media is much more convenient in the field and, more importantly, photographs can always be sent outside the “danger zone.” In an interview with The Guardian, the photographer said: "Old habits may be hard to break, but my experience is that most of my colleagues, regardless of their age, have switched to digital... The quality has never been better. Plus, now I can , for example, working in extremely low light conditions." However, in June 2010, McCurry took part in a Kodak promotion: the photographer was asked to use the latest Kodachrome film, the production of which had already been suspended at that time. The photographs taken as part of this project were posted publicly on the Internet by Vanity Fair magazine.
In May 2013, McCurry worked on photographs for the Pirelli 2013 Rio de Janeiro calendar.
In 2016, Steve McCurry found himself at the center of a scandal related to the fact that some of his photographs were edited in various editors (for example, the photograph "Afghan Girl" was cropped for use on the cover). McCurry himself, however, reacted quite calmly to the accusations, saying that he does not consider himself a photojournalist, but rather a visual storyteller, who, however, does not lie to his audience, because the changes made do not affect the veracity of the image. The scandal once again raised a number of theoretical questions related to the impossibility of depicting truth in photography.
"Afghan Girl"
Steve McCurry took his most famous photograph in December 1984. The photo, which became known as the Afghan Girl, was taken in a Pashtun refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan. In June 1985, she appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine and was later voted "the most famous photograph" in the magazine's history by USA Today. A number of publications (including National Geographic itself and American Photo) call this photograph the “Afghan Mona Lisa.”
Steve McCurry tried several times to find the girl he photographed, but only succeeded in January 2002. As it turned out, her name Sharbat Gula and in 1984 she was about 13 years old (Gula herself does not know exactly her age). She ended up in a refugee camp after her parents were killed in a Soviet helicopter attack on their village.
The photo was taken on Kodachrome color film using a Nikon FM2 camera with a Nikkor 2.5/105 lens (105 mm focal length) without additional lighting. It is curious that when taking this photograph, McCurry considered himself particularly lucky that he was able to capture the face of an Afghan woman, which is usually covered by a burqa. Sharbat Gula herself did not know about her fame until 2002 and saw the photograph only in 2003.
Anyone interested in the world of photography is familiar with the poignant image of a girl from Afghanistan with amazing light eyes that look straight at the viewer. The portrait of twelve-year-old Sharbat Gula, featured on the cover of National Geographic, was taken by American Steve McCurry and became the most recognizable photograph ever to appear in NG. The symbol of the suffering that befell refugees and residents of the country affected by armed conflicts forever glorified its creator.
Despite the unambiguous fame and recognition of the portrait, Steve McCurry did not become the “author of one photo.” This is a famous, successful and extraordinarily talented photojournalist who has done (and continues to do) a lot for reportage and documentary photography. His works are published in Life, Paris-Match, Time, Newsweek and other respected publications; Robert De Niro and other celebrities happily pose for him.
Photographer Steve McCurry for Valentino
Steve McCurry does not rest on his laurels, he still travels a lot and has no plans to settle down at home, preferring Asia to America with its centuries-old history and multiculturalism.
Thirty years of adventure and work in the hottest spots
McCurry is a strong-willed man. He began his career as the Afghan conflict flared up and took some of its first photographs. To obtain this photographic evidence, he had to sew the film into the folds of his clothing - McCurry crossed the border in local "garb", he even deliberately grew a beard so as not to arouse suspicion among the rebels controlling the territory. Having seen the photographs taken during the expedition, Time magazine offered him permanent cooperation, but Steve stayed in place for less than a year, moved to National Geographic and again set off on difficult and dangerous journeys.
McCurry was robbed on the streets of Thailand and drowned during a trip to India. He was in a plane crash in Slovenia, miraculously swimming out of an icy lake, and survived when a bomb fell meters from his Afghan hotel. The photographer visited a Pakistani prison, where he ended up while carrying out a NatGeo assignment, survived many days of hunger and shackles, but after his release he continued to work. Twice his family was informed that he was missing - but the bad news was premature.
McCurry is the author of photographs from numerous hot spots, he photographed wars in Lebanon, the Philippines, the Persian Gulf, and Cambodia. He was awarded a gold medal, recognized as the best foreign photojournalist and has long been accepted into the ranks of the Magnum agency.
Dangerous situations seem to follow him - even in his native America, he managed to get into the epicenter of the events of September 11, 2001. Steve filmed the burning WTC towers from the window of his apartment, and the next day he made a hole in the fence at the disaster site and filmed in the rubble until the police arrested him.
In addition to his main job - filming in dangerous locations - McCurry is actively involved in public projects. In 2004, the photographer created the Imagine Asia organization - a non-profit structure that helps the people of Afghanistan (including the children of that same grown-up girl) get an education.
He enjoys sharing his professional knowledge, speaking to audiences around the world. Steve collaborates with colleagues and amateur photographers - for example, he did an unusual project with Russian publisher and blogger Nika Belotserkovskaya, conducting a master class for her photography courses in Sicily.
A special style: color, clarity and a mixture of realistic and artistic photography
McCurry, according to the unanimous belief of his colleagues and fans, is better than anyone else at blurring the difference between hard reporting and artistic photography. He combines compositional harmony with expressive realism, telling stories through the camera that do not need explanation, are holistic and clear to viewers, regardless of nationality and social group.
McCurry is a great observer, a leading master of the street genre. His reportage photographs look easy, they have a casual grace and a sense of capturing the moment. One of the main tools of a photographer is color. He brings additional meaning to the work, this is McCurry's calling card.
McCurry's photographs are always recognizable, no matter what equipment he shoots with. The famous photo of a girl from Afghanistan, like most other works, was taken on Nikon with a Nikkor lens (and without additional light) on Kodachrome color film. The photographer took so many photographs with it over the course of 30 years that, as a token of gratitude, the Kodak company gave Steve the last Kodachrome reel produced. After shooting these 36 frames, McCurry switched to a digital camera and never worked with film again.
Rich biography and open ending
Steve McCurry became interested in photography in his youth, starting his career taking pictures for the university newspaper. The photographer was born in Philadelphia in 1950. At the age of five, he unsuccessfully broke his right hand and was forced to master the use of his left. Having decided to become a director, Steve studied cinematography, but switched to the theater department, which he graduated in 1974. Before he turned 20, he went on a trip to Mexico, the Middle East and Europe. In Sweden, he met a professional photographer who taught him the basics of the craft.
After graduating from university, McCurry got a job as a newspaper photographer, but he quickly grew tired of the routine. He quit and went to India - without money, hopes for orders and prospects, living from hand to mouth and spending money mainly on film. Planning to spend a month and a half in Asia, he ended up staying there for two years. Returning to America for just a month, he left again - this time to areas adjacent to the conflict zone in Afghanistan.
On the Afghan border, Steve met refugees who told him about the civil war. They changed him into clothes that were not conspicuous, and he went to take pictures, although he had never been to military conflict zones before. He sent the photographs he took home, and they ended up in the New York Times. At the end of the same year, Steve photographed the period of the entry of Soviet forces into Afghanistan. The work was published on the front pages of Time and Newsweek, and the young reporter became a photojournalism star.
The photographer spent several years in the conflict zone. His most famous photograph, the “Afghan Mona Lisa,” was taken precisely then, in a Pakistani refugee camp. McCurry photographed the confused and unhappy girl, who had lost many family members in a helicopter attack, in a makeshift field school. In a few minutes, the photographer took historical shots, which NG at first did not want to use - they seemed too dramatic. As a result, the photo ended up on the cover, and Steve himself became part of the history of photography.
The photographer still works closely with National Geographic, travels to Tibet, Madagascar, Iran, travels around Russia and has no plans to slow down the pace of life and work.
At almost 70 years old, he organizes international exhibitions, conducts seminars and never tires of repeating that people all over the world are the same, although they look so different. You can trust Steve McCurry - few have seen as much as he has and few have been endowed with such generous, bright and extraordinary talent.
Steve McCurry is a real superhero. He has seen first-hand all the great geopolitical conflicts of the last three decades, been declared dead twice, escaped bombs and flown an airplane. His Afghan Girl earned image status comparable to the Mona Lisa, and the 2012 Pirelli anniversary calendar did not feature any nude women for the first time.
We are meeting before the opening of the Moscow exhibition. He is short, for an important event he put on a suit of trousers and a jacket of different colors, he is calm and relaxed. In other words, not at all like a man who made his way through deserts and mountains, and saw so much grief along the way.
Steve McCurry. Sharbat Gula. Afghan girl. Nasir Bagh refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan, 1984
— Do you miss bright colors when you find yourself in Moscow or some other big cities where there are fewer of them?
— I wouldn't say that I'm too attached to color photography. I am much more interested in human stories, emotions, and communication between people. Therefore, I am very happy to visit Moscow, New York and Tokyo, where there are not so many flowers, but there is so much going on.
— But color is your language?
— I repeat: I am much more interested in people. Light, composition and color are very important, but they alone will not save a photograph.
— What would you compare the Moscow light to?
— I love cloudy days. I have sensitive eyes and I don’t like bright light, although I can take good pictures in it. But if I have the opportunity to choose, then I prefer soft undertones and the kind of cloudiness that usually happens in Moscow.
Steve McCurry. Pilgrim at the Drango Monastery. Kham, Tibet, 1999
Steve McCurry / MMOMA press service
— In one of your interviews, you said that you have some kind of special intuition - it helps you understand that something is about to happen and grab the camera a second before the desired frame. Can you tell us more about this feeling?
— Look, you and I are having lunch now. Opposite us is a door that can open and people will enter through it. A piece of art hangs on the wall. The composition is just great and you can wait a bit for people to come in or out. Perhaps if I wait a few minutes, magic can happen.
— Or maybe it won't happen?
— Yes, of course, these are the rules of the game. If I spend ten minutes here and realize nothing is happening, it won't be a good investment of time for me. The world is a place of endless alternatives and possibilities. Is it better for me to stay here? Do I need to go there? At every moment you have to decide for yourself where the most interesting place will be.
Steve McCurry. Monks on the Golden Rock. Kyaikto, Myanmar, 1994
Steve McCurry / MMOMA press service
— What if you suddenly choose wrong?
— You make a lot of bad decisions every day, and you don't need to dwell on it. I would advise you to relax and open up to the world, admit to yourself that you are enjoying life now. I'm in Moscow, a wonderful place, the weather is great. And even if I don’t take any photos with me, it was still worth it. You can't be overly demanding of yourself.
— How would you define yourself in the history of photography? In the 70s, when you continued the tradition of the Magnum school, everyone seemed to be into conceptual photography, the postmodern game and advertising. You were one of the few who continued the documentary tradition - and used the possibilities of color to the maximum.
— I'll tell you this: at the end of your days, it is important to understand that you used the time that was allotted to you to the fullest. I met great people. I learned a lot. I was able to tell people about the world. A few photographers have iconic photographs that will remain when the photographers themselves are gone.
Steve McCurry in Thailand, 2007
MMOMA press service
— This is understandable, we know your work well. But much more important - at least for me - is your work with Pirelli (2012 anniversary calendar - editor's note) - where there was not a single naked woman.
— In 2018, more and more women... smart and incredible women have existed since the beginning of time, but only now are they given the opportunity to take the place in society that is rightfully theirs. And photographers realized that they could shoot a beautiful model who would talk about the problems of humanity and concern for the environment. A model is no longer a pretty face. Petra Nemkova is a beautiful woman, but she spends so much time raising money for charity. At Pirelli press conferences they usually discuss what it means to be naked today, but at mine everything went completely differently: women began to talk about what really worries them. It was great: they were so passionate. I was very proud of them.
— This is cool. But no less important is the fact that we have become calmer about our own imperfections. You know, when I was little, I looked at magazine covers and wondered why my skin wasn’t as smooth as these women. I think the great achievement of recent years—including yours—is that you can be imperfect. And that's okay.
— Yes, sure.
Steve McCurry. Portrait photographer. Kabul, Afghanistan, 1992
Steve McCurry / MMOMA press service
— Then I ask: what does beauty mean to you?
— This is as global a question as the question of what art is. Beauty is harmony and rhythm. It's hard to explain, really. You see the ideal, you notice some amazing harmony - like in music. You know, sometimes you look at a graphic composition and realize that it is so perfect that there is poetry in it. I'm not talking about the beauty that a flower has, but rather about the completeness of the form, when everything comes together and forms incredible proportionality. Don't think that I'm specifically looking for something beautiful. However, if I see beauty, I will not turn away from it. It is important to trust yourself in this sense: to shoot what you want to remember and write down. Some people may like it or not, but it doesn't matter, the main thing is that it mattered to me. I don’t want to end up on my deathbed thinking that I tried to please everyone. We live so short that during this time we want to experience joy.
— You've seen so much misfortune - wars, floods, 9/11, lions dying in Kuwait. How do you manage to feel happy?
— We all suffer terrible things - it's not just Kuwait or 9/11. Each of us experiences tragedies, and sometimes you just need to find a corner of your head free from this in order to stop tormenting yourself. Decide for yourself that you will at least try to enjoy the moment - whether you are with friends or alone with a cigar. You can’t torture yourself all the time; sometimes you need to let go of your worries. That's what I do when I'm walking around with a camera, just reacting intuitively - although perhaps trying to give meaning to some things that may not have any.
Steve McCurry. Women in a shoe store. Kabul, Afghanistan, 1992
Steve McCurry / MMOMA press service
— What are your dreams like? Do you dream about your heroes?
— They are very anxious. These are some uncomfortable situations, problems, something that causes me to feel slightly uneasy. Overall these are not very happy dreams.
— Do you think we would lose a lot if the world was black and white?
— Color creates added value: the sky is blue, the color of the clouds is like sugar or salt, color is a spice. Color is a source of pleasure, just like music. We could, in theory, live without music - it's about as wonderful a thing.
The life story of one of the most recognizable photojournalists of our time.
-Which of your photographs best describes your life?
- Life is so complex, it is difficult to describe it in one sentence or in one idea... Maybe a picture where a child runs along an alley between two walls with prints of children's hands. He could probably represent me.
Broken arm
In 1950, a boy named Steve is born in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the age of five, he, curious and lively, like all boys of his age, falls down the stairs and breaks his right arm. The bone heals poorly, and Steve, who is right-handed, has to learn to use his left.
This incident does not change his character at all - he is still interested in everything. Having matured, he chooses the most interesting profession - film director. At the age of 19, he went to Europe for a year, traveling around Sweden, Holland, and Israel. There, to save money and get to know the country from the inside, he lives with host families. In one of them, Steve meets and makes friends with a photographer.
They walk the streets of Stockholm, take photographs, and in the evenings they develop the pictures in a dark room. Then the young man realizes for the first time that photography is a wonderful way to combine his love of travel and an insatiable interest in life. A hand broken in childhood makes itself felt - it is uncomfortable for him to work with his left hand with cameras designed for right-handed people, but this worries him least of all.
As a result, while studying at the University of Pennsylvania, he, in parallel with directing, actively studied photography. He especially likes the work of Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans. Having received his diploma with honors, Steve does not work a day in his profession, but gets a job as a photojournalist at a newspaper. But he took his first good photograph two years earlier, during his student years.
"The Picture That Made Me"
In 1972 he travels to Mexico. While wandering down the street in Mexico City, Steve sees a homeless man slumped against the wall, directly under the window of a furniture store. The young photographer's gaze could not help but be drawn to this sad picture - a man in torn clothes lying on the bare slabs of the sidewalk exactly under a beautiful new sofa displayed in the window. It was this photograph that would set Steve on the path to professional photography.
Working for a newspaper quickly gets boring for a young man. Day after day he films the same thing: school graduations, club meetings... He decides that he doesn’t want to spend his whole life like this, saves money, quits - and leaves for India. No guarantees or expectations for photo orders from print media. Steve plans to spend six weeks there, but then he finds his true love - all of South Asia. Six weeks stretches over two years. He returns back to America for only a month and immediately leaves again - for Afghanistan.
The Real McCurry
Here in South Asia he will become the Steve McCurry we know. In 1979, in Chitral, right on the border with Afghanistan, he meets several refugees from a neighboring country. They tell the man with the camera that there is a civil war in Afghanistan - people are being killed there, villages are being wiped off the face of the earth. They ask him to go and film what is happening so that the world will know what is really happening.
Steve agrees, even though he has never been in a combat zone before. He thinks it's interesting, that it's an adventure. He is dressed in local clothes and illegally transferred across the border. They shoot at him, he is scared, but he is already one of these people, this is now his story too.
He forwards the photographs to a friend, who offers them to the New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor. In December of the same year, the USSR sent troops to Afghanistan. McCurry films this too. His photographs are published by Time and Newsweek magazines and the Associated Press. An unknown photographer who made small orders for regional newspapers appears on the front pages of international publications.
Soon National Geographic contacts him. For six months, Steve McCurry has been working on a story for NatGeo, which lands him and his guide in a Pakistani prison. They are shackled and not fed for several days. Then, without explanation, they are released without being deported from the country. McCurry continues to work, but National Geographic refuses to take the story - the editors do not like the text.
It is a big blow for a photographer to realize that he has failed the assignment of such a publishing house. But everything ends well - NatGeo takes another story from Steve and gives a new order. The collaboration continues to this day. It was on the cover of this magazine in June 1985 that McCurry’s most famous photo, “Afghan Girl,” appeared.
In 1986, Steve became a member of the international photo agency Magnum.
"Afghan Girl"
1984, the war in Afghanistan is still far from over. Steve McCurry and a colleague are filming life in a refugee camp in Pakistan when laughter is heard from one of the tents. Photographers look inside - there is a lesson in a makeshift school for girls. Steve asks permission to take some photos. One of the girls, who particularly interested McCurry, covers herself with an old hijab: it is not the custom of these people to allow a strange man, especially a foreigner, to see a woman’s face.
The teacher asks the girl to remove her hands and look directly at the camera. The girl allows us to take a few pictures, but then, completely embarrassed, leaves the tent. But McCurry already knows that photographs taken hastily without a flash will be good - there was so much soul in those precocious adult eyes.
The portrait of an Afghan girl will become one of the most famous shots in history. It will be reprinted millions of times. But no one will know either the name or the fate of this refugee - until in 2002, McCurry, together with the NatGeo group, finds her again with great difficulty. After 18 years, Sharbat Gula’s face will again appear on the cover of the magazine.
In 2004, Steve will create a non-profit organization, Imagine Asia, to spread secondary and higher education among the people of Afghanistan - ordinary people like Sharbat and her children.
Last film
At the beginning of Steve's career, cameras were only film. It was impossible to predict the quality of the image in advance, before developing the frame. How the photographs of Sharbat Gula turned out, McCurry will find out only a couple of months after the shooting. But digital cameras are gradually completely replacing film cameras. In 2009, Kodak decided to stop producing its most popular film, Kodachrome.
In recognition of the merits of Steve McCurry, who shot most of his shots with it, the company's management decides to give the latest film produced to the photographer. “I shot with it for 30 years. My archive contains several hundred thousand photographs. And these 36 frames were supposed to sum it up, to embody them all - to say goodbye to Kodachrome with dignity. It was a beautiful film,” he recalls.
After snapping the last roll, Steve never shot with a film camera again. These photographs were developed on July 14, 2010, and the slides were deposited in perpetuity at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York.
Below you can see all the footage from the latest film.
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Actor Robert De Niro in his screening room in Tribeca, in New York City, May 2010.
De Niro in his screening room, May 2010. (Frame 4, not shown, is a near duplicate.)
De Niro in his office in Tribeca, May 2010.
Indian film actor, director, and producer Aamir Khan in India, June 2010.
A boy in a tea shop in Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia, near Mumbai, India, June 2010.
A sculpture studio in Mumbai that produces statues of notable Indian personages and Hindu gods, June 2010.
Indian film actress and director Nandita Das, in India, June 2010.
Shekhar Kapur, director of Elizabeth, in India, June 2010.
Amitabh Bachchan, one of the country’s most prominent actors, in India, June 2010.
A Rabari tribal elder, photographed in India, June 2010.
A Rabari tribal elder, who is also an itinerant magician, photographed in India, June 2010.
A Rabari tribal elder and itinerant magician, photographed in India, June 2010.
A Rabari woman, photographed in India, June 2010.
A Rabari girl, photographed in India, June 2010.
An elderly Rabari woman, photographed in India, June 2010.
A Rabari boy, photographed in India, June 2010.
Turkish photographer Ara Guler (“The Eye of Istanbul”), in Istanbul, Turkey, June 2010.
Street art at Seventh Avenue and Bleecker Street, in New York City, July 2010.
A woman reading on a Saturday afternoon in Washington Square Park, in New York City, July 2010.
A street performer in Washington Square Park, July 2010.
Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt in his Central Park West studio, in New York City, July 2010.
A young couple in Union Square, in New York City, July 2010.
A self-portrait of Steve McCurry, taken in Manhattan, July 2010.
A man on a bench in front of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Union Square, July 2010.
McCurry at four a.m. in his hotel room watching a Stephen Colbert interview on television, in Parsons, Kansas, July 2010.
A local man sleeps outside a community center in Parsons, July 2010.
A statue in a cemetery in Parsons, home to the last photographic lab in the world that developed Kodachrome film, July 2010.
Twice Dead
One day, explaining why he is willing to risk his life in hot spots and go to the most dangerous places in the world, McCurry will say: “I think we want to witness history, see events that have not yet been recorded. We want to be where history is written, because in the end we live simple, boring lives...”
But no one, but this photographer, can complain about boredom. He is imprisoned several times in Pakistan, robbed and almost killed in Thailand, and once nearly drowned in India. After a severe concussion, he loses his memory for a while and barely emerges from the plane that crashed into a winter lake in Slovenia. Survives after a bomb falls tens of meters from his hotel in Afghanistan.
Twice during his time in Afghanistan, his family was informed that Steve was “missing in action, presumed dead.” And a few times he actually thinks it's over. But each time he continues to move forward, towards danger, even when tragedy comes to his own doors.
9/11
September 10, 2001 Steve McCurry returns from a long assignment in China. The next day, he and his assistant are sorting mail in his apartment near Washington Square Park, and then the phone rings: “There is a fire in the World Trade Center.” McCurry looks out the window and sees the twin towers burning.
“I grabbed my camera bag, went up to the roof of the house and started taking pictures. We didn’t even know then that they were planes, because we didn’t have a radio or TV on the roof. We thought it was a fire, a terrible tragedy, but it would soon be put out. And then they collapsed.
I could not believe it. I saw them explode, I saw the smoke, but it was impossible - that they were no longer there. My assistant and I ran downstairs to photograph everything in place. It was so surreal. There was fine, fine white dust and office papers everywhere, but no more office equipment: no cabinets, no phones, no computers. Everything seemed to evaporate. There was only dust, steel and paper.
We were there until 9 pm. I went home, but could not sleep, got up at half past four in the morning and went there again. There were police, firefighters, soldiers, but I needed to document everything. I cut a hole in the fence and spent the entire morning of September 12 at the site where the towers stood until the police caught me. But it definitely needed to be documented - and I did it.”
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"My home is Asia"
Now it is almost impossible to find McCurry at home. When he is not teaching seminars for photographers, he travels around the world, often visiting Asia. “Asia is home for me. I love this part of the world. There is such deep culture, geography, such diversity. Their culture goes back thousands of years. The architecture, the language, the clothes - everything is so special.”
But what amazes him much more is how similar people are. They dress in different clothes, build different houses, eat different food. But everyone laughs or is sad the same way. Deep down, we all belong to humanity.
Now Stephen McCurry is 65 years old, but he doesn’t think about stopping. Because there are still so many places to visit: Madagascar, Iran, Russia, return to Tibet. Because “you only live once, and the opportunity to see the world, all its beauty, and secrets, and chaos is a worthy aspiration.” Because a good day is “any day when I see something new, explore the world. And if you can take a good photo, so much the better.”
Steve McCurry signs an autograph on a photograph of the Kremlin he took from the roof of GUM.About different destinies. There is poverty in the modern world, this is a fact. But I am also sure that people live with different understandings of what wealth and poverty are. Life has put many in difficult conditions, but thanks to this, they have developed interesting human stories that they want to tell. The topic of poverty should not be exploited. But we also cannot pretend that it does not exist.
About an Afghan girl. My feelings for this image and for the story I shot back in 1984 are as fresh as ever. Nothing changed! I couldn’t let go of the thought of how the girl’s fate turned out. And a few years later, my colleagues and I found her and helped as much as we could. Now she continues to live her usual life in Afghanistan. We still keep in touch.
About female beauty. I don’t think that ideas about female beauty have changed significantly in the new millennium. This is an eternal story. Of course, if we are talking about natural beauty. A hundred years ago there were completely different ideals! But during the time that I have been living in the world (and I have been living for 66 years), the perception of a woman’s beauty has remained the same. Perhaps only the hairstyles change.
About the time. But the sense of time in the modern world has changed a lot. Previously, it went at a completely different rhythm. Like a peasant with a hoe. The sun is already overhead, which means it's time for lunch. Today we have become time catchers. We try to use every minute. If business people make an appointment for 12 o'clock, they know for sure that it will start at exactly 12. The expression “time is money” works more than ever. I would even say that now time is very big money. And yet, the sense of time in different countries is very different. I've encountered this many times. In my opinion, in the countries of Southern Europe and Latin America, time does not flow as strictly as in other places on Earth.
About the watch. Their job is to show the time. But here is a story similar to what I told you above: how different watches can be thanks to people’s imagination. Human nature is designed in such a way that we are not ready to stop there, we are eager to improve everything. And not only technically, but also visually. Just for fun. We have a desire to create something special that can delight others. And this is how masterpieces of architecture are born. Likewise, a watch becomes a work of art. I saw a watch that a client ordered from Atelier Cabinotiers Vacheron Constantin. This is an amazingly complex and stunningly beautiful thing that took eight years to create.
About the new world. At the age of 19, I decided to devote my life to travel and therefore became a photographer. He began traveling around Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia. I have been traveling constantly for over 40 years. I am attracted to another world, new and unfamiliar. Foreign places interested me more than the faces I saw at home. But I also filmed something in the USA (by the way, I’m originally from Philadelphia), mainly for my own pleasure. Thanks to the Vacheron Constantin project (the watch house, in collaboration with Steve McCurry, chose 12 little-known and inaccessible corners of the world to photograph - MC's note), I found myself where I had long dreamed of visiting. Together we wanted to show amazing monuments of human culture. The watch manufactory in Geneva, the aqueduct in Mexico, the Chand Baori step well in India... On the one hand, simple and functional structures. But how amazing people made them!
