Steve McCurry is recognized as one of the world’s finest photographers and during his career he has covered many international and civil conflicts, particularly within the regions of Asia and the Middle East. He took the first photographs from the 1979 Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, which were published in the New York Times, Time Magazine and Geo. McCurry documents the wounds of war, disappearing cultures and their traditions, the consequences of globalization and changes to the fabric of life. The now iconic image of the Afghan girl Sharbat Gula taken in a refugee camp in Pakistan appeared on the cover of National Geographic in 1985 and became instantly a symbol both of the Afghan conflict and of the refugee situation worldwide. McCurry has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1986, the famed agency founded among others by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa in 1947.

   Many of McCurry’s later photographs have also become modern icons, each with a story to tell. Best known for his evocative color images, his photographs are unique street portraits that reveal the universality of the human condition, finding the beautiful in daily experiences. “The thing I want people to take away from my work is this human connection between all of us … There’s a kind of commonality between all of us. Despite our religion, language or ethnicity, we’re all basically the same”, says Steve McCurry. He sees himself as a traveler who contemplates the facets of human existence in his work. 

Steve McCurry -