Steve McCurry

The picture taken by Steve McCurry that launched him to overnight fame was the portrait of an Afghan girl, whose direct gaze and intensely green and luminous eyes immediately captivate the viewer. The photographer took it in a refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1984.

Starting in 1979, McCurry was one of the first photographers to report on the Afghan conflict. His photo reportages have been published in Time Magazine, the New York Times, in Geo and in the National Geographic. McCurry also took pictures during the first Gulf War.

The Afghan Girl is one of the main pieces in this McCurry retrospective – along with many other impressive portraits that the photographer has taken over the last thirty years.

The exhibition includes around 120 pictures taken between 1980 and 2012, in countries such as Afghanistan, the USA, Pakistan, India, Tibet, Kashmir, Cambodia, Indonesia, Burma and Kuwait, and offers a comprehensive overview of the colourful body of work by Steve McCurry – a magician with the camera.

Further information at: Kunsthalle Erfurt