Around the same time, he began to take up assignments for National Geographic-a magazine responsible for putting him in the league of the best and finest, especially after his striking portrait of a young Afghani girl was featured on the magazine’s June 1985 issue cover. Publications from around the world became aware of his work and clamoured for his pictures. The photographs were eventually published in publications around the world, and they also won him the Robert Capa Gold Medal for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad-an accolade that commends photographers for their courage and enterprise.Īfter his critically acclaimed Afghan War coverage, Steve began to get offers for similar assignments. While preparing for his escape, he had to hide his reels of film that carried these images within the folds of his turban, and inside his shoes and underwear. He still managed to disguise himself in traditional Afghani attire, and capture the very first pictures of the conflict. “While I was up in the north of Pakistan, I met some Afghan refugees who invited me to go into their country and see what was happening…”īut his journey to the rebel-controlled Afghanistan was not that easy, due to the tension of the Russian invasion. “I was fascinated with the colour, vibrancy, culture, people, geography and the monsoons in India”, he recollects.ĭuring this time, he also travelled to Pakistan. Before he could even realise it, his six-week trip turned into a two-year affair. With very little money saved from an earlier job at a US-newspaper called The Daily Collegian, Steve travelled to India in 1978 for a freelance project. Call him a photojournalist, documentary photographer or portrait photographer, Steve shoots with one simple objective-to capture an image that will stay with the viewer for a long, long time. This fine visual storyteller’s name is Steve McCurry. Since then, he has captured multi-award winning, iconic images that tell heartbreaking survival stories of people, places and cultures. The photograph changed the life of this young photographer, who was anonymous to the world till then. This image would later represent to the world the plight and courage of the survivors of the Afghan War in the 1980s. He was so amazed by her hauntingly beautiful eyes, that he knew he had to pick up his camera and take her picture. She was shy, but curious about what he was up to. Those piercing eyes compelled him to look at her. I would rather represent them in their own situation and habitat.”-Steve McCurry “I usually like to photograph people on the spot.

Portraits by steve mccurry