Influential and renowned photographer Steve McCurry shares works in a new exhibit
Steve McCurry is best known for his haunting portrait of Sharbat Gula, the child whose image he captured in a Pakistan refugee camp amid the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. When National Geographic put “Afghan Girl” on its cover in 1985, McCurry didn’t even know her name. But those piercing green eyes stayed with him.
Nearly two decades later the American photojournalist returned to Afghanistan to find her. Miraculously, with assistance from other journalists, they were reunited in 2002. Their story is shared in the documentary “Search for the Afghan Girl,” and they’re still in touch.
“She’s been living in Italy the last couple of years,” said McCurry, whose iconic photograph is part of his new solo show at Cavalier Galleries in Greenwich, Feb. 8 through March 9.
“She’s with her family, and hopefully is safer and more secure there than she’d have been in Afghanistan.”
McCurry said Gula was in danger from the Taliban and wanted to relocate with her children. He shared more in a phone interview from his home in Philadelphia, where he lives with his wife and daughter.
“People came together to help her,” he said of Gula. “My sister was instrumental in getting her out of Afghanistan. We’ve been helping her for 20 years or so. We’re in touch, pretty much every week.”
McCurry was 22 when he decided to pursue photography. “I thought, what better way to live my life than to tell stories and travel and look at the world as a place I’m passing through, kind of too quickly.
“I just wanted to appreciate it, make the most of my time here, look around and see what the world had to offer,” he said.
Some places he chose to visit because he’d read about them or found them fascinating. In other cases, opportunities arose to see lands “where a particular story needed to be told because there was a need for people to know what was happening.”
If eyes are windows to the soul, then this renowned photographer surely has seen pieces of humanity during his four-decade career. His award-winning images capture the beauty of the human spirit (especially in his latest book, “Devotion”), as well as vanishing cultures across all seven continents.
“The world is a precarious place,” he said, noting wars in Gaza and Ukraine, among other conflicts. “Some places are doing well; others are not.”
But this new exhibit, a retrospective simply called “Steve McCurry,” isn’t focused on the dark side. It’s more of a promising and hopeful look, including everyday moments and even some humor.
Among the images, there’s a procession of nuns in pink, walking through rain-drenched streets in Yangon, Myanmar, plus a mix of Shaolin monks hanging upsidedown while training.
“When people are devoted to a particular cause, or spirituality...I think that brings out the best of the human spirit; it offers purpose and meaning to one’s life. I think some of these pictures illustrate that,” he said.
Another photo shows a bright crimson cloth held aloft by a Nambian shepherd boy, as he and another boy take goats to pasture.
McCurry likes the movement in it. “These are young boys who have a lot of energy. I just think there’s a wonderful kind of spirit to the picture.”
Others feature a man’s face covered in sugar (from his candy factory job), a smoking coal miner, and burqa-clad women at a shoe bazaar in Afghanistan. “It’s kind of a funny juxtaposition,” he said, of the women cloaked in traditional garb, standing before a display of colorful sneakers.
Discussing the coal miner, McCurry said we live in a fascinating and surreal world. “It’s ironic that he would be smoking a cigarette “Procession of Nuns” by Steve McCurry. “Afghan Girl, Peshawar” is one of Steve McCurry’s most recognizable photos.
after coming out of the mine after 12 hours underground.”
The exhibit shows resilience of the human spirit, perseverance and fortitude, he said. “I think it talks about the profound beauty of the planet we live on, how we all manage to get by, and how we all look different and have different occupations.”
While McCurry isn’t the sort of artist who is recognized on the street, his photographs are certainly appreciated, and that’s something he values.
“When you’re out there working and responding to the world, and people recognize things you’ve photographed and see something worthwhile, or connect with or respond to an emotional part of a picture, you have to be grateful.”
The famous American photographer Steve McCurry meets some fans in Milan, Italy, on Oct. 10, 2021.