1. Steve
McCurry
By: Danielle Joseph
Photo by: Antii Kirves

2. Era
 Steve McCurry was born in a suburb of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
 Attended Pennsylvania State University where he
studied film. After working free lance he started making
trips all around the world, packing lightly with only
clothes and film.
 Today he is known as one of the greatest
photographers with his work being recognized and
known all around the world.

3. Career Path
 Photographs war related conflicts and consequences.
 Conflicts he has covered are Cambodia, Philippines,
Afghanistan to name a few
 National Geographic magazine is where you would find most
of his work but also other major magazines.
 “His career was launched when, disguised in native garb, he
crossed the Pakistan border into rebel-controlled Afghanistan
just before the Russian invasion. When he emerged, he had rolls
of film sewn into his clothes and images that would be
published around the world as among the first to show the
conflict there. His coverage won the Robert Capa Gold Medal
for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad, an award
dedicated to photographers exhibiting exceptional courage
and enterprise.”

4. The background behind the girls is foggy, and faded away,
the trees shows bareness and emptiness. The obvious
group of girls is the subject and its what captures the eye
due to the bold color of their clothes. It kind of shows
action because of the motion the clothes on their body are
swaying.

5. Technology
 Depending on what he's shooting and the
situation he uses different types of cameras but
prefers to pack light
 carry one or two lenses.
 Shoots both in digital and film,
 Nikon D3s and Hasselblad HDII-39

6. This picture shows many levels of color. From the dark thick
smoky clouds, the colorful red/orange fiery light then to the
dark sands of some dessert. The subject are the three
camels and they are made to look like a prop in this
amazing battlefield sky.

7. Ethics
 To photograph portraits it all depends on the subject
 Photographs subjects as is
 “That’s when I make contact and explain what I’m doing. I
don’t snap frames and run away without saying anything. If
someone does not like to be photographed, I don’t try to
persuade them. It creates bad karma.”
 He tells the story how he captures the picture of a widow
walking down the street. She even invited him over for tea. He
grew such an admiration for her and all that she symbolizes

8. Motivation
 Steve is inspired by Henri Cartier Bresson
 Just everyday people doing there everyday things and
living their life inspires him
 “cleaning nets, families sharing meals and celebrations,
artisans crafting their wares, nomads continually on the
move; even the most seemingly mundane activities can
be inspirational when you look beneath the surface”

9. This a great action shot. You can clearly see the soldiers
running in midair, jumping over pits of fire. The subjects
however is all black but everything else is in color. The
closer the subject is to the foreground the darker then as
it reached the far background a subject is in color.

10. Viewpoints
 “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.”
 “There will always be new people and
situations. In so far as there are new songs to
be written, new poems to be told, likewise
there will always be a new photograph to be
taken!”

11. Photographic Style
 From browsing through his many albums on his website,
you will notice that most of his pictures have this sort of
composition and emotion.
 Uses a lot of different colors not much is shot in black
and white
 Pictures have their own place and setting
 Photographs what his naked eye sees without any
alterations

12. Even with the darkness of this picture, great amount of
sunrays are caught by the camera showing some sort of
smoke or dust. The rays shows some lines that stands out
with the dark background. She subject is not directly in the
middle this picture expresses the rules of thirds.

13. Impact
 Steve has a great impact on society, the pictures he takes and gets
published impacts the world.
 His pictures symbolizes the hard times of survival challenges and
hardships.
 His pictures will make you feel all kinds of different emotions from
happiness to empathy.
 “One afternoon I spotted this man walking down the middle of the street
with the sewing machine on his shoulder. He was a tailor and the sewing
machine represented his livelihood. Unfortunately, the machine was
ruined, but when the picture appeared on the cover of the National
Geographic Magazine, the machine's manufacturer sent him a new
one.”

14. Major at AIC
My major at AIC is liberal Arts, Just like Steve
McCurry, I would love to travel the world
and help people out. Life is to short to
remain in the states. I want to put myself in
other peoples situations and shoes to get a
whole different viewpoint then what I'm
used to living.

15. Viewpoints
“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.”

16. Books
 The Imperial Way (1985)
 Monsoon (1988)
 Portraits (1999)
 South Southeast (2000)
 Sanctuary (2002)
 The Path to Buddha: A Tibetan Pilgrimage
(2003)
 Steve McCurry (2005)
 Looking East (2006)

17. Works Cited
 Cover Photo
http://www.photoraw.org/node/83
 Left: "Afghan Girl" 1985 National Geographic Steve McCurry
Right: Gula in 2002 National Geographic Steve McCurry (Courtesy of the
NPR)
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2002/04/afghan-girl/index-
text
 All other pictures from Steve McCurry Website
http://stevemccurry.com/galleries
 http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photograp
hers/photographer-steve-mccurry/
 http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB100014241278873233249045790433
03744241562
 http://stevemccurry.com/biography
 http://www.odedwagen.com/2013/01/masters-of-photography-
interview-with-steve-mccurry/