12
INTERVIEWS VIEWS conversations
BEST known for his haunting
portrait of a female Afghan
war victim for the National
Geographic magazine in
1985, Steve McCurry is
recognised as one of the
world’s finest image-mak-
ers. The Philadelphia-born
photo-journalist has won the
World Press Photo Contest
four times and is a recipient
of the US Magazine Photog-
rapher of the Year award.
His coverage of the Russian
invasion of Afghanistan won
the Robert Capa Gold Medal
for best photographic report-
ing from abroad.
WHEN you take photographs
of your subjects, whether
people or places, to what
extent are you able to eth-
nographically convey the
characteristics of the subject
for your audience?
I don’t really approach it in such a
serious way. It sounds like work
– “ethnographic”. It sounds like
some study, like some academic
study. I’m just curious and inter-
ested about people. And some
people dress this way and some
people behave that way.
I am just fascinated how in-
teresting and strange this planet
that we live on is. And it kind of
grows out of that as opposed to
“I’m gonna do a study” and so
forth.
I do go to places like Tibet,
Burma, Yemen, Kashmir, Sri
Lanka, India. I am interested in
Finding the
right moment
STEVE MCCURRY, WHO WAS IN
MALAYSIA ON A TOUR ORGANISED
BY THE US EMBASSY, SPEAKS TO
HIMANSHU BHATT, FOLLOWING A
TALK AT UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA
IN PENANG LAST WEEK.
exploring, examining various
places more for my own curi-
osity and to try and document
people, places, that interest me
personally, visually.
How did you start off with
photography and National
Geographic? Were you al-
ways keen on photography
as a child?
I studied filmmaking in school
but I quickly drifted. I studied
lighting, acting, directing, stage-
lighting and set design, all of
that. But I quickly went into still
photography.
I wanted to be a filmmaker
but I ended up with this ... I like
the solitude of still photography.
I love the… It’s an individual
effort. It’s just you and your
camera, as opposed to you and a
film crew. I like working alone.
Man and machine:
A ship breaking
yard near Karachi
I like wandering around and
discovering things on my own.
I’m not so much of a group-ori-
ented person. Sometimes with
a film crew, it’s kind of a group
endeavour. I prefer working
alone.
And as far as National Geo-
graphic goes, I worked in India
for two years, and worked on a
portfolio which I eventually took
to National Geographic. This
was 1978 to 1980.
You worked there on a free-
lance basis?
Yeah, I worked on my own, just
wandering around. I came back
in spring of 1980 after having
gone for two years when I took
my work down there (to National
Geographic).
You are best known for that
Enduring: Angkor
Wat during an
evening shower
theSun
particular cover of the “Af-
ghan Girl” (Sharbat Gula).
Do you feel there has been
too much attention drawn to-
wards that iconic photograph
when there are so many other
works you have done?
I don’t think about it. You can’t
control, you have no influence
on how people respond to your
work. It’s nothing I think about
at all. It would appear there’s a
lot more attention paid to that
picture than my other work. But
you can’t think that way. People
I think when respond to what they want to re-
you look at spond to. You can’t force people.
art, when
you look at Tell us about your experi-
ence in taking that shot.
photographs, It was actually in a school, an
one of elementary school. When I saw
the great her, I immediately realised this
things is the was an extraordinary work. Her
face, her person, her expression.
ambiguity… I knew this was going to be an
And the amazing picture.
mystery of the The teacher convinced her to
viewer looking let me take a picture, because at
at the picture that time the Afghans in refugee
camps, they really wanted to
and imagining get their story out to the inter-
something, national media and the world
fantasising, community. So the teacher
making a convinced her.
Actually I moved … I kinda
story. And the had her on one angle. I moved
reality might her over to another angle and
be completely got the light which was more
different. correctly on her face. It wasn’t
The intention really touched, it wasn’t Pho-
toshop-ed, it wasn’t manipulated
might be in any away.
completely As you probably know, we
different. went back to look for her in 2002
But does it and we asked her why her shawl
was torn. She told us that there
matter? had been a fire in the kitchen.
To put out the fire, she hit it with
her shawl. That was interesting
to find out how it happened, that
photo of the shawl on the cover
of the June 1985 issue.
And we got literally thousands
of letters over the next 17 years.
People wanted to know what
happened to her and how we
could help her. People wanted to
send her money and there were
even some offers of marriage.
I was very, very careful with
her picture. We never allowed
| THURSDAY JUNE 25 2009
Sharing insights:
McCurry talking
about photography
at Universiti Sains
Malaysia last week
it to be used for advertising or
commercial usages. You can’t
imagine how many people had
these weird requests. There was
one request from Japan – they
wanted to put her picture on a
bottle of saki (laughs).
Could you give me an exam-
ple of any other work that you
have found most memorable
or challenging?
Well, I think probably one of
the stories that I worked on
which was very profound and
very moving was the aftermath
of the Gulf War in 1992. I had
spent a lot of time; I was there
two or three months. And visu-
ally it was powerful. Absolutely
powerful. (Pauses.) I would say
that was in some ways the most
interesting body of work that I’ve
ever done.
There was such a dramatic
human consequence to that
whole thing, so many people
were killed and tortured. It was
an ecological disaster, a cata-
strophic situation. The landscape
was completely indescribable.
You have photographed
so many people, but to the
viewer they become name-
less. What is the personal
impact they have had on
you? Do you keep in touch
with them? Do you develop
friendships?
I meet you. We have some con-
nection, some contact. Perhaps
we really get on, perhaps we
like each other, perhaps we...
There’s that spark, that recogni-
tion, mutual interest or affection.
And then it may only last for a
few minutes. Then you go one
way…
It’s not that you develop
lifelong relationships or stay in
touch. Some magic happens. It
happens, boom, that’s it. That’s
all there is.
Do you ever feel that your
subjects are revealing some
message for you and for the
viewer?
I think when you look at art,
when you look at photographs,
one of the great things is the