Afghan Girl (photos) describe Steve McCurry long & varied career.

Author by Nandini Paul

A nameless green-eyed Afghan girl is one of the most well-known in the world and put a human face on an evil conflict. American documentary, photographer Steve McCurry was catapulted to fame when his image elegance the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1985. A year later he was signed to prominent photographic agency Magnum and went on to triumph a veer of awards for his work. Presently on exhibit as part of a display of his work at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, ‘Afghan Girl’ has come to describe his long and varied career. 

McCurry was crossing the border from Pakistan into Afghanistan in 1984 in a while before a Soviet unpleasant when he came to a refugee camp near Peshawar. He approached the girl who was in a make move school at the time and took her picture. It was the 1st photograph ever taken of her and to date only one of 2: the second was taken 17 years later in 2002 by McCurry, subsequent a long and difficult search to find the girl, now a mother of 3 living in the mountains of Afghanistan.

McCurry told that “I had tried to find her throughout the 90s; because we didn’t have her name, it became very difficult as you can imagine; A female, a girl you know it was just very difficult and complicated and almost impossible”. Though the icon inspired an outburst of public interest ever since it 1st entered circulation, it was after 9/11 that McCurry made a more concentrated effort to locate her.

McCurry told that though ‘Afghan Girl’ is his best-known image; there are others he is mainly fond of. Many such as a photograph of Sri Lankan fishermen balancing on poles out in the sea are on display presently in Birmingham.