Steve McCurry Bio:
Steve McCurry has been a one of the most iconic voices in contemporary photography for more than 30 years, with scores of magazine and book covers, over a dozen books, and countless exhibitions around the world to his name.
Born in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; McCurry studied film at Pennsylvania State University, before going on to work for a local newspaper. After several years of freelance work, McCurry made his first of what would become many trips to India. Traveling with little more than a bag of clothes and another of film, he made his way across the subcontinent, exploring the country with his camera.
It was after several months of travel that he found himself crossing the border into Pakistan. There, he met a group of refugees from Afghanistan, who smuggled him across the border into their country, just as the Russian Invasion was closing the country to all western journalists. Emerging in traditional dress, with full beard and weather-worn features after weeks embedded with the Mujahideen, McCurry brought the world the first images of the conflict in Afghanistan, putting a human face to the issue on every masthead.
Since then, McCurry has gone on to create stunning images over six continents and countless countries. His work spans conflicts, vanishing cultures, ancient traditions and contemporary culture alike - yet always retains the human element that made his celebrated image of the Afghan Girl such a powerful image.
McCurry has been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards in the industry, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal, National Press Photographers Award, and an unprecedented four first prize awards from the World Press Photo contest, to name a few.
Published books include The Imperial Way (1985), Monsoon (1988), Portraits (1999), South Southeast (2000), Sanctuary (2002), The Path to Buddha: A Tibetan Pilgrimage (2003), Steve McCurry (2005), Looking East (2006) In the Shadow of Mountains (2007), The Unguarded Moment. (2009) and The Iconic Photographs (2011)
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He is compact. Not small, but like he was made to be a travel photographer. One that fits in everywhere. Does not take space, physically or otherwise. There’s something timeless about him; part old-time adventurer and part modern-day immortalizer, all in the same package.
“We are all part of the same human race but we do things differently. How we operate with each other, how we dress, what kind of customs and religions we have… Exploring those differences is fascinating. Meeting people is about sharing things and maybe on some level about making the world a better place.”
“When taking pictures you don’t think about yesterday or tomorrow, you are in the moment. We spend such a short time on this planet and in this life, and we’ll all die soon anyway. You have to get the most out of life.”
McCurry is especially known for his photographs from Asia and has been just in Afghanistan about 30 times during the past 30 years.
He has travelled the world for most of his career as a photographer for National Geographic. He got in the magazine with a portfolio that he had been photographing in India for two years.
“It was a combination of luck and perseverance. Photography is hard work. There are no magic tricks.”
McCurry is politically correct in an American way, not aggressive but neither withdrawn. A good-natured self-confidence shines through everything. He speaks with experience and says a lot, but does not chatter idly or aim to shock with his stories.
he only uses one lens on his travels, a 24–70mm zoom. Not exactly provocative.
His photos also tend not to be stark. Compared to the roughness of younger photographers he seems more classical. Although the subject matter of his images may be tough, the end result is always refined – and almost without exception, colourful.
“I have photographed in black and white and like it a lot. For me the world is in colour, however. My clients also want colour images.”
McCurry’s images about the horrors of war or the World Trade Center attacks, for example, show human suffering and the ugliness of the world in a beautiful form. Sometimes the photographer’s psyche has been under duress. In these tough situations emotions take over but the photographer has to remove himself emotionally from the situation enough to be able to operate the camera and to work.
“I work on autopilot, relying on instinct. The emotions surface when I look at the images afterwards. Sometimes it is unreal. I have been so removed from the situation at the moment the picture was taken. You have to get over the depression to keep going.” “Available light has not been a conscious choice but the most natural, simplest and efficient way of working. Using a flash feels like work, it takes away some of the fun.”
Steve broke his right arm as a child and it has not worked properly since. That’s why his own camera has a handle fixed to the tripod mount and he relies on automatic focusing.
He has given up film and photographs everything digitally, usually with Nikon cameras but sometimes also with a medium format Hasselblad.
“Maybe ten years ago film still had its place but no more. I like to photograph in low light. With a digital camera I can select the film speed on the fly, take handheld pictures almost in darkness and get publishable pictures. There’s no doubt that I’m taking better pictures now than when I was using film. Almost everyone photographs digitally, even Salgado.”
Like Sebastião Salgado, McCurry has been a member of Magnum, but he prefers to dispel the mystique associated with the legendary picture agency. Apparently no jobs come through the agency.
“I don’t think that clients are interested if the photographer is in Magnum. They just look at the portfolio. In France even the man in the street might know what Magnum is, but in New York it’s good if one in a million has heard about it.”
“Never. I don’t feel myself to be any different to 20 years ago. I’m still interested in the same things as before. Photography is my passion and compulsion. I don’t have a family. I have decided that this is how I want to live my life. It suits me.”
McCurry studied filmmaking in college but film required the involvement of too many people. Photography was more spontaneous.
“I prefer to work alone and to make my own decisions. When I come to a crossroads I look right and left. I go where the light is better.”
Most of all he likes to photograph life as it is, as a fly on the ceiling. Portraits, however, are always created through the cooperation of the photographer and the subject.
“That’s when I make contact and explain what I’m doing. I don’t snap frames and run away without saying anything. If someone does not like to be photographed, I don’t try to persuade them. It creates bad karma.”
