Face of Asia: Steve McCurry Photographs
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“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…I guess what you’d call the human condition.”
For more than twenty-five years Steve McCurry has covered areas of international and civil conflict, including the Iran–Iraq war, the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, Beirut, Cambodia, the Philippines, the Gulf War, and Afghanistan. Face of Asia concentrates on his extensive work from Asia, including images from India, Afghanistan, as well as recent work from Cambodia and Tibet. McCurry’s vivid color images and descriptive titles give us in the West a window into the cultures and peoples of Asia. Included is extensive text covering the story of the “Afghan Girl” as a young refugee and the woman found seventeen years later.
Steve McCurry is a member of Magnum Photos, Inc. and his work appears in National Geographic and many other magazines. This podcast episode views some of the work from Face of Asia: Steve McCurry Photographs, a traveling exhibition by the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film.
McCurry has published a number of books: The Imperial Way (1985), Monsoon (1988), Portraits (1999), and South Southeast (2000), a first-prize winner in the book category of the Pictures of the Year competition. His book Sanctuary: The Temples of Angkor (2002) is an exploration of the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Looking East and In the Shadows of Mountains are two recent publications by Phaidon.
A companion gallery guide is available for purchase. Steve McCurry is often available to lecture about his life and work as a photo journalist. This exhibition provides an opportunity for visitor education on geography, Asian culture, and politics. Face of Asia was organized by George Eastman House with the support of Eastman Kodak Company and Nikon, Inc. To learn more, please visit George Eastman House. To donate, please click Donate Now!
PHOTO CREDITS:
- BOY PARTICIPATING IN THE FESTIVAL OF GANESH CHATURTHI IS COVERED WITH RED POWDER DURING THE EXUBERANT CELEBRATION. THIS FESTIVAL MARKS THE BIRTHDAY OF LORD GANESH, ONE OF HINDUISM’S MOST POPULAR DEITIES by Steve McCurry, American (b. 1950). 1996, Bombay, India. Chromogenic development (Lambda) print
- TIBETAN WOMAN AT A TEMPLE IN AMDO by Steve McCurry, American (b. 1950). 2001, Kham, Tibet. Chromogenic development (Lambda) print
- A YOUNG RINPOCHE, BELIEVED TO BE A REINCARNATED MONK, IN A TEA SHOP NEAR BODH GAYA by Steve McCurry, American (b. 1950). 2000, Bodh Gaya, Tibet. Chromogenic development (Lambda) print
- FISHERMEN ALONG THE SOUTHERN COAST OF SRI LANKA CAST THEIR LINES IN THE TRADITIONAL WAY ATOP POLES SO THEY CAN WORK IN SHALLOW WATER WITHOUT DISTURBING THE FISH by Steve McCurry, American (b. 1950). 1995, South Coast, Sri Lanka. Chromogenic development (Lambda) print
- A FATHER PADDLES HIS DAUGHTER TO THE FLOATING VEGETABLE MARKET IN THEIR SHIKARA IN SRINAGAR. MUCH OF THE CITY IS ADJACENT TO DAL LAKE, WHERE PEOPLE USE THESE CANOE-LIKE BOATS TO GO TO AND FROM THEIR HOME by Steve McCurry, American (b. 1950). 1996, Srinager, Kashmir, India. Chromogenic development (Lambda) print
- I WAS IN A BEAT-UP TAXI TRAVELING THROUGH THE DESERT TO A TOWN CALLED JAISALMER ON THE INDIAN-PAKISTAN BORDER. THE RAINS HAD FAILED IN THIS PART OF RAJASTHAN FOR THE PAST THIRTEEN YEARS. I WANTED TO CAPTURE SOMETHING, OF THE MOOD OF ANTICIPATION BEFORE THE MONSOON. AS WE DROVE DOWN THE ROAD, WE SAW A DUST STORM GROW—A TYPICAL EVENT BEFORE THE MONSOON BREAKS. FOR MILES IT BUILT INTO A HUGE, FRIGHTENING WALL OF DUST, MOVING ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE LIKE A TIDAL WAVE, EVENTUALLY ENVELOPING US LIKE A THICK FOG. AS IT ARRIVED, THE TEMPERATURE DROPPED SUDDENLY AND THE NOISE BECAME DEAFENING. WHERE WE STOPPED, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WORKED ON THE ROAD—SOMETHING THEY ARE DRIVEN TO DO WHEN THE CROPS FAIL—NOW BARELY ABLE TO STAND IN THE FIERCE WIND, CLUSTERED TOGETHER TO SHIELD THEMSELVES FROM THE SAND AND DUST, THEY SANG AND PRAYED. LIFE AND DEATH SEEMED TO HANG IN PRECARIOUS BALANCE by Steve McCurry, American (b. 1950). 1983, Rajasthan, India. Chromogenic development (Lambda) print
- RAJASTHANI MEN PARTICIPATE IN THE THE HINDU FESTIVAL OF HOLI by Steve McCurry, American (b. 1950). 1996, Rajasthan, India. Chromogenic development (Lambda) print
- A YOUNG AFGHAN SCHOOL GIRL RETURNS TO HER HOMETOWN OF HERAT AFTER HAVING BEEN BORN AND RAISED AS A REFUGEE IN NEIGHBORING IRAN. THIS WAS THE FIRST WEEK IN HER NEW SCHOOL by Steve McCurry, American (b. 1950). 1992, Herat, Afghanistan. Chromogenic development (Lambda) print
- HAUNTED EYES TELL OF AN AFGHAN REFUGEE’S FEARS by Steve McCurry, American (b. 1950). 1985, Pakistan. Chromogenic development (Lambda) print
- SHARBAT GULA, 2002. FOR ALMOST TWO DECADES, STEVE MCCURRY HAS RECEIVED LETTERS, TELEPHONE CALLS, AND E-MAIL INQUIRIES ABOUT THE AFGHAN GIRL, SHARBAT GULA. WHEN STEVE AND A TEAM FOUND HER AGAIN, THERE WAS AN UNPRECEDENTED OUTPOURING OF GENEROSITY TO THE AFGHAN GIRLS FUND. GIRLS WHO HAD BEEN DEPRIVED OF AN EDUCATION ARE NOW IN
- SCHOOL AND ARE LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE AND BECOME SELF-SUFFICIENT by Steve McCurry, American (b. 1950). 2002, Mountains near Tora Bora, Afghanistan. Chromogenic development (Lambda) print
- A YOUNG BOY DRESSED AS THE HINDU DEITY KRISHNA, OFTEN DEPICTED IN THE COLOR BLUE, ASKS FOR MONEY AT A RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL IN HARIDWAR by Steve McCurry, American (b. 1950). 1998, Haridwar, India. Chromogenic development (Lambda) print
- CHILDREN SELL OFFERINGS TO DEVOTEES ON THE BATHING GHATS IN VARANASI, ONE OF THE MOST HOLY CITIES IN INDIA by Steve McCurry, American (b. 1950). 1996, Varanasi, India. Chromogenic development (Lambda) print
Music Credits:
All music is from the PodShow podsafe music network.
- GLASS by The Panic Attacks
- SO LONG SOLACE by Nick+Gerald
- A LIFE WELL-LIVED by ixi.