STEVE MCCURRY AND THE GIRL

By Bernard Bujold - 
Montreal Art Gallery GOT is presenting a unique exhibition of pictures by STEVE MCMURRY (born in 1950), the widely known US Photographer. 
McCurry career was launched in 1984 when, disguised in native garb, he crossed the Pakistan border into rebel-controlled areas of Afghanistan just before the Soviet invasion. When he emerged, he had rolls of film sewn into his clothes. Those images, which were published around the world, were among the first to show the conflict. 
 The picture of the "Afghan girl" is considered a classic in modern photography. McCurry took the portrait of "Afghan Girl" in a refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan. The shooting lasted for only about 2 minutes and he took about 10 to 15 pictures. One of the image was however published in the National Geographic magazine and the girl face became famous as the cover photograph on the June 1985 issue. The identity of the girl remained unknown for over 17 years until 2002 when McCurry and a National Geographic team located the woman, Sharbat Gula. McCurry was a bit sad to see her old and tired but he said, “Her skin was weathered; there were wrinkles but she was as striking as she was all those years ago in my souvenir."
McCurry is a master in photography on film as digital but he considers that digital is a positive development for this medium. Now photographers can see and correct their images directly in the action on the spot. He prefers Nikon equipment for himself but he admit that today all cameras name (Canon, Leica, Sony, etc) are very good and even iPhone is terrific. The quality of the picture by phone is as good as the old SLR cameras of the 80. 
McCurry is not doing journalist photography anymore and he prefers fashion and special projects. Eastman Kodak let him shoot the last ever produced roll of Kodachrome transparency film, which was processed in July 2010 and it is kept at the George Eastman House. 
The exhibition in Montreal at GOT Gallery is until June 30 at 50 St-Paul West. 
SEE PHOTO ALBUM ;
SEE STEVE MCCURRY WEBSITE ;
SEE GOT ART GALLERY WEBSITE ;