Steve McCurry Reflection

1000 words, that’s how most people describe pictures but not me; I believe that there is more to it. Take Steve McCurry; born in 1950, McCurry grew up in Philadelphia where he attended the Collage of Arts and Architecture. His picture makes you think more of the entire point. Take his most renowned picture of the Afghanistan Girl. That picture makes you focus on what really matters. We all have fear or anger behind our eyes. Mainly, the theme behind McCurry’s pictures is to show that there isn’t just good in the world. His pictures show us what it is like for other people to survive day after day.
“Most of my photos are grounded in people, I look for the unguarded moment, the essential soul peeking out, experience etched on a person’s face.” - Steve McCurry.

The photo that really stands out for me is one of his most famous “The Afghanistan Girl.” The eyes full of wonder. They stare at you like they’re looking into your soul. Who knows what this girls thinking? She could be troubled, she could be depressed; she may even be in pain. Judging by this picture, I think it may be all three. The story that can be told behind those big, green eyes full of sorrow, is that no life is perfect. Out there in the world today; Fathers, Mothers and children struggle to live as each day goes on. They struggle to eat a meal a day (let alone three.) Every second a child starves because what the family could provide wasn’t enough to feed everybody. Every time I look at the picture of the Afghanistan Girl, I feel pity and sorrow because it reminds me, as I’m living a lovely life; other people aren’t getting much of a life at all.

After looking at Steve McCurry’s work, I have learned that; it’s not what the picture is showing; but what it represents. Is it fear, happiness, cruelty, anger, depression or any other feeling or emotion you can receive from looking at a picture. He has also shown me that photography can change their people’s ways of looking at things. Now other people should understand that life is hard. Whether you’re rich and healthy, or poor and sick; we all face challenges. A finally lesson that McCurry has helped emphasize is making a picture remembered. It takes a lot to make a good picture. It needs to clearly show what the photographer wants us to see. It also needs to be easily read, so the reader doesn’t get lost between all its surroundings, and it also needs to make a point. It needs to tell a story in all the tiny details that can be seen. A good picture is one that is almost clearly visible to the naked eye.

All photographers want to know, how to make their picture memorable? What makes it stand out over everyone else’s? Answer, it depends how people feel when they look at your picture. Steve McCurry always makes you curious with his photos. He always leaves you wondering, “Why is that happening?” Someone looking at his photos will go home and think about it, trying to see different explanations to why the events in the photo are happening that way. Steve McCurry’s photos show how he travels around the world. From Afghanistan, all the way to Cambodia. His life’s journey is to capture every breath taking moment on film so that it can be remembered.
“What is important to my work is the individual picture. I photograph stories on assignment, and of course they have to be put together coherently. But what matters most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling.” - Steve McCurry

You might say that a picture is worth 1000 words, but after looking at pictures that Steve McCurry has taken over the year; it’s not 1000 words that jump to mind; but four, “THE WORLDS NOT PERFECT.”




















After looking at Steve McCurry’s work, I have learned that; it’s not what the picture is showing; but what it represents. Is it fear, happiness, cruelty, anger, depression or any other feeling or emotion you can receive from looking at a picture. He has also shown me that photography can change their people’s ways of looking at things. Now other people should understand that life is hard. Whether you’re rich and healthy, or poor and sick; we all face challenges. A finally lesson that McCurry has helped emphasize is making a picture remembered. It takes a lot to make a good picture. It needs to clearly show what the photographer wants us to see. It also needs to be easily read, so the reader doesn’t get lost between all its surroundings, and it also needs to make a point. It needs to tell a story in all the tiny details that can be seen. A good picture is one that is almost clearly visible to the naked eye.

All photographers want to know, how to make their picture memorable? What makes it stand out over everyone else’s? Answer, it depends how people feel when they look at your picture. Steve McCurry always makes you curious with his photos. He always leaves you wondering, “Why is that happening?” Someone looking at his photos will go home and think about it, trying to see different explanations to why the events in the photo are happening that way. Steve McCurry’s photos show how he travels around the world. From Afghanistan, all the way to Cambodia. His life’s journey is to capture every breath taking moment on film so that it can be remembered.
“What is important to my work is the individual picture. I photograph stories on assignment, and of course they have to be put together coherently. But what matters most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling.” - Steve McCurry

You might say that a picture is worth 1000 words, but after looking at pictures that Steve McCurry has taken over the year; it’s not 1000 words that jump to mind; but four, “THE WORLDS NOT PERFECT.”