Thanks to him, the Afghan girl reached the world: Who is Steve McCurry?

The year is 1985... The portrait of Şerbet Güla, who affixed her timid, angry and rebellious gaze to people's eyes, called the "Afghan Girl", became the symbol of the Afghan war and refugees all over the world, on the cover of the June issue of National Geographic. It had the title of the world's best-known photograph and was called the "Mona Lisa of the Third World". This photograph completely changed not Güla's life, but that of her photographer Steve McCurry. It was perhaps the first step in life, from a troubled childhood to a successful career in the world's most dangerous war zones. Although, after 17 years, McCurry found Güla and took her photo again, bringing this symbol name to the agenda again.

War zone photography was not really McCurry's own choice. In the 1970s, his country seemed boring to him. He went to India with 300 rolls of film that he had saved from local photography and pocketed. In his own words, he had been bitten early by the adventure bug and his motivation was to explore the undiscovered. He lacked financial support, spent the night in cheap hotels, was malnourished, and often risked not only his health but also his life. In 1979 he went to Afghanistan to prepare a report on the conflict between rebel groups and government troops. After spending two weeks at the front, he returned to Pakistan sewing his films on his turban, socks, and underwear. McCurry's footage began to be published when it became clear that none of the Western agencies had up-to-date photographs from Afghanistan. “Afghan Girl” was his culmination.

While the photo became an icon, it brought awards and fame to McCurry. He became a candidate member of the famous photo agency Magnum Photos in 1986 and a full member in 1991. He never got lost among the agency's brilliant photographers and journalists. He received many prestigious awards and was repeatedly selected as the "Best Photographer of the Year" by various magazines and associations. It was now McCurry's motivation to photograph the natural anger of people in conflict zones, to show them to the world. He never stopped documenting those moments between life and death. He had an incredible ability to be in the right place at the right time. McCurry, who spent August 2001 in Asia, returned to New York on September 10. The next day he woke up very early and looked out the window to see the World Trade Center was on fire. He grabbed his equipment and ran to the roof of the house. After shooting a few films, he realized that he needed to get closer. He continued to take pictures until the film was finished, hiding from the authorities.

McCurry has been to the Iran-Iraq War, Beirut, Cambodia, the Philippines, the Gulf War, and Afghanistan, documenting what happened there. Although he does not describe himself as a war photographer in his interviews, wherever there is conflict, he has always been there. Of course, he also found himself in some controversies. He allegedly tricked his into photographing the "Afghan Girl," tackling controversies that his work created digital manipulation, which he rationalized by saying he was a "visual storyteller." But no matter what, one of the iconic names in the art of photography today is Steve McCurry. He is remembered with close appreciation by Sebastião Salgado. He adds new adjectives to war photography with his studies and explanations on globalization, the planet, and the environment. McCurry, who has a brilliant career, is now in his 70s and is a father who fights to protect the ecological balance and is determined to save the disappearing nature. Steve McCurry is now on the agenda again with the release of the documentary "The Pursuit of Color" about his career on digital platforms.

Who?

He was born on February 21, 1950, in Philadelphia, USA. He worked as a photojournalist and editor. He is one of the members of the world-famous photography company called Magnum Photos. Steve McCurry has received numerous awards for his photographs. He won first place twice in the "World Press Photo" competition, which is a worldwide photojournalism competition.

He graduated from Penn State University. While planning to study cinema and film production, he graduated from the performing arts department in 1974. He discovered his interest in photography while photographing for the newspaper of his university. After graduating, he worked as a journalist for two years. After two years, he went to India to work as a freelancer. He then crossed the Pakistani border and took pictures in the rebel-controlled area. These photos were later published in The New York Times, TIME, and Paris Match. Steve McCurry not only photographed this war zone, but also documented the Iran-Iraq war, the Lebanese civil war, the Cambodian civil war, the Islamic rebellion in the Philippines, the Gulf war, and the Afghanistan civil war. Steve McCurry, who provides visual material for many magazines and newspapers, has been frequently featured in National Geographic magazine. He is a member of Magnum Photos company in 1986.

In his photographs, Steve McCurry chose not to photograph the city, environment, and destruction caused by the war, but to reflect the effects of the war on people from the faces of those who experienced it. He tried to capture the best moments in which the lives of people who were in the middle of the war could be understood from their faces, and he succeeded in this. He was pictured in the television documentary "The Face of the Human Condition" by Denis Delestrac.

“Afghan Girl” Photo: This is Steve McCurry's photo that made it known to the world. He took this famous photograph of himself in a refugee camp in Pakistan. In the photo is an orphan girl, about twelve years old. It was chosen as the “best-known photograph” by National Geographic and used as the cover photo for June 1985. The identity of the girl who was taken could not be found for exactly seventeen years. Steve McCurry and the National Geographic team found the girl in 2002, after seventeen years. Steve McCurry stated that despite the passing years, that striking look still stands.

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