In 1978, after a few years work-
ing as a photographer at To d a y ’s
Post, his local paper in King of
Prussia, Pennsylvania, McCurry
took the major step that put him on
a path that eventually led him into
the pantheon of great photogra-
phers: He bought a one-way ticket
to India to build his own personal
body of work. He later said, “If I
were to choose to photograph in
just one country, I would
choose India” because of
its “beautiful chaos.”
Less than a decade later,
his portrait of a 12-year-old
green-eyed Afghan refu-
gee named Sharbat Gula in
Pakistan graced the cover
of the June 1985 issue of
National Geographic. How-
ever, what’s revealed in
the book is that McCurry’s
best-known single photo-
graph almost never saw the
light of day: Bill Garrett,
then the editor-in-chief of
National Geographic, pulled it from a
pile of rejects after the story’s photo
editor had chosen an alternate image
during his edit.
In A Life in Pictures, McCurry’s sis-
ter reminisces, “From the time he was
a kid, Steve was never still, and he’s
never been one to wait for things to
happen to him. I’ve heard it said that
only amateurs wait for inspiration;
professionals just get up every day
and get to work.” Now in his late 60s,
Steve McCurry is still proving his sis-
ter’s comment to be true and shows no
signs of slowing down.
McCurry’s fascination with daily
life and the human condition contin-
ues to be the driving force behind his
images, perhaps best summed up by
the late, famed National Geographic
photo editor Bob Gilka: “McCur-
ry’s success did not come from the
bang-bang syndrome of the swash-
buckling combat photographer.
Rather, it is because of his versatility
and sensitivity.”Digital Photo Pro: The exten-
sive text in your new book by
your sister, Bonnie McCurry,
gives us incredible insight into
the makings of you as both a
person and your evolution as
a photographer.Steve McCurry: My sister is the per-
son who knows me the best. She has a
great eye and memory, so it was obvi-
ous she would be the only one capable
of doing this huge, extensive work in
gathering stories, going through my
work and selecting pictures that have
never been seen before. It was also
important to give some context to
situations I lived through, witnessed,
with ephemera and texts, and could
be potentially an educational tool for
future generations. I believe she did an
amazing job.You started out studying cin-
ema and, as your sister wrote
in the book, the medium has
had a major influence on the
development of your eye.
You’ve cited Stanley Kubrick,
for instance, as a major influ-
ence. What made you adjust
your focus to a life capturingfrozen moments?
Kubrick was a master of light and
composition. His color palette was
poetic and harmonious. He started
his career as a still photographer for
Look magazine, and I think his eye
for design and light carried through to
his filmmaking.
While I was studying cinematogra-
phy in college, I took a fine-art pho-
tography class. I just fell in love with
the medium and the work
of photographers like Henri
Cartier-Bresson, André
Kertész, Dorothea Lange
and Elliott Erwitt. Their
work is full of humanity,
emotion and great artistry.
They turned universal sto-
ries into art. They photo-
graphed the world from
their personal point of view.
Henri Cartier-Bresson and
André Kertész generally
used one or two lenses and
worked mostly in available
light. This simplicity, as
well as the mastery of light and com-
position, helped contribute to create
this timeless quality.
I knew I wanted to spend my life
traveling and exploring the world we
live in. Photography has a solitary ele-
ment that I’m attracted by. You can
walk out your door and start shoot-
ing images. It seemed more spontane-
ous than film. I thought it was more
immediate. I liked wandering around
with my camera and making pictures
of things that interested me.What has drawn you to focus
so much of your photographic
efforts on Asia?
There’s such depth of culture and
geography, and there’s so much vari-
ety. It’s truly a unique part of the
world, and so often misunderstood.
When you think of a place like
Afghanistan, and then next door you
have India, Nepal and Tibet...the“I feel a real personal
relationship with the
Afghan people,
who I’ve met...and
who have become
extended family.”
16 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com