by Stew Mosberg

Few photographs are more compelling or recognizable than Steve McCurry’s National Geographic cover of a green-eyed Afghan refugee girl (1984). However, one photograph rarely makes a legendary photographer. Rather, it is McCurry’s expansive body of work that has elevated him to the top of his profession.

Recently in Durango to judge “Exposure,” the juried show on exhibit at Open Shutter Gallery, McCurry will return to the gallery Sept. 9 to announce the winner of that show and launch his one-man exhibit. In a rare opportunity for Durango photo enthusiasts, he also will give a talk at the Durango Arts Center at noon the same day.

Ticket proceeds will go to McCurry’s nonprofit, Imagine Asia Organization (IA). The group recently bought 500 books for the Markaz Girls’ High School in Bamiyan and also 500 blankets for two hospitals. “We have received donations of hundreds of new textbooks, which have been sent to universities in Herat and Bamiyan to support their English curricula,” McCurry adds. “We founded and are continuing to support a small school for children in a refugee camp in Kabul. IA has been able to supply thousands of textbooks for medical students at the medical university in Kabul.”

 

McCurry’s photographic accolades are vast, and his images transcend photojournalism into the realm of fine art. Born in Philadelphia, he graduated cum laude from the College of Arts and Architecture at Pennsylvania State University.  After a two-year stint at a newspaper, he went to India as a freelance photographer. It was there that he learned to “watch and wait on life,” and it is that patience and understanding of the subject, whether human or natural, that gives his photography its special quality. “If you wait,” he says, “people will forget your camera and the soul will drift up into view.”

On display at the Open Shutter will be 32 prints from his collection taken over the past 30 years, including several images of exotic faces that are as quixotic as they are revealing. Adding to their fascination, these stunning portraits are frequently composed with brilliant color.

A member of the prestigious Magnum group of photographers, McCurry’s work has won the Robert Capa Gold Medal, an award dedicated to photographers exhibiting exceptional courage and enterprise. McCurry was also awarded the National Press Photographers’ Association “Magazine Photographer of the Year.”

Early in his career, he donned native garb and crossed into rebel-controlled Afghanistan just before the Russian invasion and managed to smuggle out rolls of film sewn into his clothes. The startling photos were published around the world and were among the first to show the conflict there. That same year, he was recipient of four first prizes in the world Press Photo Contest.

For more than 30 years, McCurry has covered regions rife with conflict, including Iran, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Beirut, Cambodia, the Philippines and Afghanistan. Like his predecessors at Magnum – Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and Chim Seymour – McCurry focuses on the consequences of war and its devastation on the landscape and human spirit. His portraits of refugees, the impoverished, the frightened and stunned, speak volumes. There are also photographs expressing joy and playfulness reflected in the faces of children or monks as well as ones that reveal a pride, wariness or undaunted dignity.

Capturing places most of us will never visit is another fascinating aspect of his work. McCurry’s photos depict the sea of humanity crushed together at a festival in India or bathing in the Ganges. Photographs such as the boy covered in red pigment, his penetrating, coal-black eyes staring back, are as disquieting as they are fascinating.

Last year, Kodak announced the end of production of Kodachrome film and as a fitting tribute to McCurry, gave him the last roll to use as he saw fit. “These were the last 36 exposures produced of the iconic film,” he says, “I certainly feel privileged to have been able to shoot them. With so few pictures, I wanted to make each one count, so I looked for people and places that I thought were worthy. In a few cases, I used more than one frame per subject, so in the end I had 31 unique images from around the world – Turkey, India, New York and Parsons, Kansas – the location of the last lab in the world that still processed Kodachrome at the time.”

Driven by his innate curiosity and sense of wonder, McCurry has an uncanny ability to cross the boundaries of language and culture to capture the human experience. “Most of my images are grounded in people,” he says. “I look for the unguarded moment, the essential soul peeking out, experience etched on a person’s face. I try to convey what it is like to be that person, ... caught in a broader landscape that you could call the human condition.”

 
A high point in his career, and the subject of a National Geographic documentary, was the rediscovery of the previously unidentified Afghan girl that many have described as the “most recognizable photograph in the world.”  When he finally located Sharbat Gula after almost two decades, he said, “Her skin is weathered; there are wrinkles now, but she is as striking as she was all those years ago.” The images will be included in the local show.

When asked about his personal favorite images, McCurry says, “One picture that I am really fond of is the image I took in a dust storm in India. I was driving down a road in Rajasthan and it was about 110 degrees, when a dust storm whipped up suddenly. Through a big cloud of dust, I could see these women huddled together, singing a prayer for rain. I didn’t want to get out of the car at first because I was concerned that my cameras would be damaged by the dust, but then I realized you can always replace your camera or your lenses, but that moment was a fleeting thing. So I got out and shot a roll of film, and it was magical. After only moments, the storm disappeared and it was as if nothing had ever happened.” Three of those photos are also included in the Durango exhibition.

With upcoming shows in Istanbul, London, Rom, and California, Durango is fortunate. When asked about the opportunity, McCurry says, “This business is all about making good, strong connections on a personal level, and that’s exactly the relationship I’ve had with Open Shutter Gallery. The town is small, but the community and the interest in the work is there. I’ve had a great working relationship with the gallery and always enjoy my visits to Durango.”

The Open Shutter Gallery will open Steve McCurry’s “Kodachrome” exhibit Sept. 9. McCurry will present a lecture in conjunction with the show at noon that day at the Durango Arts Center. Tickets are available at the Open Shutter. McCurry was also a judge for Exposure, the gallery’s second international juried exhibit, which is currently on display. Visit www.openshuttergallery.com for details.