National Geographic photographer speaks at Cal U
CALIFORNIA – He first saw her in a refugee camp in Pakistan in 1984. “She was shy. She covered her face,” said photojournalist Steve McCurry, of the 13-year-old girl with piercing green eyes who was forced to leave her Afghan home because of the Soviet war.
The girl’s teacher urged her to let McCurry take her photo, saying, “It’s important to let the world know what’s going on.”
McCurry, on assignment for National Geographic, snapped the famous photograph that became known as “Afghan girl.” It appeared on the magazine’s June 1985 issue and created an immediate sensation.
“These letters came from all over the world. People wanted to help her, send her clothes because of the picture,” McCurry told the audience that listened to him speak Thursday night at California University of Pennsylvania’s Steele Hall.
McCurry, 58, a native of Newton Square near Philadelphia, spoke in conjunction with an exhibition called “In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits,” which is now appearing in the Manderino Gallery, located on the third floor of Cal U’s Manderino Library. The exhibition, which includes McCurry’s “Afghan girl,” was created by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and National Geographic and is part of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services. It is being shown at Cal U through Nov. 11. Admission is free.
McCurry spoke at Cal U about his work and explained how he searched for the “Afghan girl” 17 years later, finding Sharbut Gula in Afghanistan. He photographed her, now at age 30, married with children. The grown-up “Afghan girl” landed on the cover of National Geographic a second time.
“It was a top-secret story,” said McCurry, “and we kept the secret until the story came out.”
Chasing around the world after photographs is how McCurry has lived most of his life. He said he just squeaked through Newtown High School and then took a job working as a mail clerk for the international division of a private company that did business with people in countries such as Turkey, Africa and Japan.
“It got me thinking about the world,” said McCurry, who quit his job to live in Europe the next year.
He eventually came back to the United States and graduated from Penn State University in 1974 with a degree in cinematography, but had already become interested in photography.
He went to work for a newspaper near Philadelphia for two years to earn money to travel abroad.
“I bought a one-way ticket, went to India and never looked back,” McCurry said.
He spent two years in India, organizing a portfolio with the hope of gaining work from National Geographic.
He succeeded, but saw his first two assignments for the magazine yanked after months of work in Pakistan and Beirut, Lebanon.
In both cases, there were problems with the article, especially when the story changed after Lebanon was invaded by Israel.
With that behind him, McCurry began to get published in National Geographic with assignments all over the world, and life-threatening circumstances that included nearly drowning in a plane crash in Yugoslovia.
“I had a lot of ups and downs – mostly ups,” said McCurry.
“I had 10 covers for National Geographic and worked in every continent except Antarctica because I couldn’t bare being a color photographer in a place that had no color.”
People began to recognize his work. He received the Robert Capa Medal for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad in 1980 after his first trip to Afghanistan, where he disguised himself in local dress to cross between the Pakistan and Afghanistan border, sewing film inside his clothing.
McCurry said, “I was excited until the day came. Then, I thought maybe, this wasn’t a good idea.”
He went through with the trip, however, because he saw the story as important.
McCurry presented a slide show of his intriguing work, showing powerful photographs of landscapes, buildings and the people he photographed, such as an elderly Indian woman who had been widowed at 12 and had to fend for herself throughout her life.
“She had a wonderful sense of grace and charm and dignity,” McCurry said.
He commented on 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, “She was completely feminine but tough as nails when it comes to her country and justice.”
McCurry photographed actor Jimmy Stewart, also a Pennsylvania native, for an assignment on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, Calif., explaining Stewart lived off the boulevard.
“He was always one of my heroes,” said McCurry.
Photographing the Gulf War was among his most meaningful work, he said.
McCurry said, “Being on a battlefield just after the battle is over with 600 oil wells on fire looks like the end of the world.”
And when McCurry photographed the Dali Lama, the holy man asked, “So how did you find that Afghan girl?”
Responding to questions, McCurry said that basically people are the same the world over.
“I think that, fundamentally when you scratch away the superficial, human nature is human nature,” he said.
“We all want to be loved and respected. We care for our families. I always see more similarity than ‘us and them.”‘
For more information on upcoming SITES exhibitions at Cal U, visit www.calu.edu/sites.