By Nyles HightowerPhotojournalist Profile

STEVE McCURRY

“Steve McCurry has been one of the most iconic voices in contemporary photography for more than thirty years, with scores of magazine and book covers, over a dozen books, and countless exhibitions around the world to his name. Born in suburb Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: McCurry studied film at Pennsylvania State University, before going on to work for a local newspaper. After several years of freelance work, McCurry made his first of what would become many trips to India. Traveling with litter more than a bag of clothes and another of film, he made his way across the subcontinent, exploring the country with his camera.”

Bio Synopsis

Steve McCurry has been published in:• TIME• Paris Match • The New York Times• National Geographic Just to name a few

Bus his most recognizable piece of work is an image called “The Afghan Girl” that was published on the cover of National Geographic in 1985.

Career Path

“THE AFGHAN GIRL”

Photo by Steve McCurry published on National GeographicImage Source: https://thepowerofthefrontcover.wordpress.com/1985/06/28/1985-the-afghan-girl-the-national-geographic-2/

“The Afghan Girl” gained instant national attention because it was on the cover of the magazine giant (National Geographic) but everyone was

incised by her eyes. That deep pool of green and red drew people in and the photo became an instant classic. But the big question everyone had

was “Who is she?” “What is her story?” and “Is she still alive today?” Steve McCurry made many attempts to find her in the 90s and failed until an

attempt in 2002 was successful and he found her.

“In January a team from National Geographic Television & Film’s EXPLORER brought McCurry to Pakistan to search for the girl with green eyes. They showed her picture around Nasir Bagh, the still standing refugee camp near Peshawar where the photograph had been made. A teacher from the school claimed to know her name. A young woman named Alam Bibi was located in a village nearby, but McCurry decided it wasn’t her.”“No, said a man who got wind of the search. He

knew the girl in the picture. They had lived at the camp together as children. She had returned to Afghanistan years ago, he said, and now lived in the mountains near Tora Bora. He would go get her.”

“It took three days for her to arrive. Her village is a six-hour drive and three-hour hike across a border that swallows lives. When McCurry saw her walk into the room, he thought to himself: This is her.”

The 2002 meeting

Photos by Steve McCurryImage Source: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2002/04/afghan-girl-revealed/

Steve McCurry is still a photojournalist to this day but he was most prevalent in the 80s and 90s in the Kodachrome era. He captured

countless photos on Kodachrome film and the digital camera was his “weapon” of choice.

Kodachrome

“In 2009, when Kodak announced that production of Kodachrome film would be coming to an end, legendary photographer Steve McCurry saw an opportunity, and asked if the company would give him the final roll. Given his reputation and the many famed photographs he’s taken on Kodachrome, it’s no surprise Kodak said yes.”

Story Behind Steve McCurry and The Last Roll of

Kodachrome Film

“As a tribute to this final roll, a crew from National Geographic decided to follow McCurry and document the momentous last 36 frames that would ever be shot on that film.”

Everyone finds their motivations from different sources, whether that be from a support system such as family and friends, the acquirement of currency, or wanting to be the best at what they are doing, 9 times out of 10 there is motivation behind actions.

Steve McCurry is a famous photographer that is most recognizable when related to his shot of the Afghan girl that was on the cover of National Geographic. He was quoted saying “I think it’s the enthusiasm, the passion, the obsession with trying to do better and discover new things that keeps me motivated.”

Motivation

In my opinion to stay motivated you have to love what you do or want to love what you do. The expression “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” links directly with motivation. Your family support system can try and motivate you but if you don’t love it yourself you want have any drive or put in the effort. Steve McCurry said “I have a passion and love for my work. I love to travel. I never get tired of going to new places and even places I’ve been. I’ve been to India more than 80 times, and I still get excited about going back.” The fact that he never gets tired of what he does would lead to motivation to keep going.

TECHNOLOGY Steve loves to use digital camera and shoot in color. A lot of his pictures are very vivid and bright and pleasing to the eye. As stated in previous slides he liked to shoot with Kodachrome film. Looking in his photo gallery you will hardly find a black and white picture. This leads me to believe that Steve thinks the same why I do. And that is our eyes don’t see in black and white so why should our pictures be?

Examples of Steve’s Beautiful Vivid WorkAll Photos by Steve McCurry

Image Source:http://stevemccurry.com

Steve McCurry is a well respects photographer and photojournalist. He has been around so long that his name and say carries weight and volume.

Ethics

But turns out that either Steve or someone working for Steve has altered photos. Steve has been capturing images for 30+ years and his gallery is tremendous but after one slip up people are staring to question if he altered photos all the time

The Image that Started the ControversyPhoto by Steve

McCurryImage

Source: http://

www.businessinsider.com/steve-mccurry-photo-editing-scandal-2016-5

“The bottom half of a man's leg fades into the steps behind it. A yellow gradient emerges where his foot should be, clearly transposed from an adjacent sign. It appears to be the result of a shoddy attempt to move overlapping objects around in the shot.”When the altered photo gained momentum and buzz the well

known website PetaPixal reached out for a statement and this is what they got:

“My career started almost forty years ago when I left home to travel and photograph throughout South Asia. I went into Afghanistan with a group of Mujaheddin in 1979, and thus became a photojournalist when news magazines and newspapers picked up my pictures, published them around the world, and gave me assignments to provide more images of the war.Later on, I covered other wars and civil conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and produced photo essays for magazines, but like other artists, my career has gone through many stages.”

Definition of Bias according to dictionary.coma particular tendency, trend, inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is preconceived or unreasoned

Bias

There aren’t any articles or stories related to any bias Steve may have but in my opinion Steve has a bias for India. He loves shooting in India and can’t wait to go back every time he leaves. Steve also has a bias against the word photojournalist. That would be putting what he does in a box and he feels like he does more than that. But he was asked if he had to put himself in a category where would he put himself and he responded “I’ve always let my pictures do the talking, but now I understand that people want me to describe the category into which I would put myself, and so I would say that today I am a visual storyteller.”

Photographic Style

Rule of Thirds: Steve captures the black smoke in the top third of the photo. In the middle you can see what seems to be fire and camels and at the bottom is dirt. The bottom half is plain so that your eyes are drawn to the top two thirds.Texture: The use of texture in this image is beautiful. The black smoke looks like you can almost grab them and they would feel like cotton candy. And the dirt looks like if you run your fingers over the photo you would feel the rocks and the bumpy nature of the dirt.

Photo by Steve McCurry Image Source: http://stevemccurry.com

In or out of focus:The isn’t an inch of this photo that is out of focus. The picture is so clear that you can count the rocks on the mountain in the background. You could count the lines going down the hats on each person. This picture is so bright and vivid and that seems to be Steve McCurry’s goal for each photo.

Photo by Steve McCurryImage Source: http://stevemccurry.com

Quality of Light:Steve captures the morning’s sunrise beautifully. He makes the light in the back the main focus so that the scene going on underneath the roof is blackened. It gives the picture a dramatic affect and is just simply nice to look at. I can see this picture hung in the bathroom at a fancy restaurant or hotel.

Photo by Steve McCurryImage Source: http://

stevemccurry.com

Keep it Simple:The subjects in the image did all the work for him. This is obviously some sort or custom or ritual where everyone wears one color and one individual wears a separate color. To make this picture what it is, all Steve had to do was get an elevated shot. He most likely climbed a flight of stairs and took the photo downward. The subjects below are all wearing red and covered in red dust while another individual is covered in green dust and being carried by the men in red.

Photo by Steve McCurryImage Source: http://

stevemccurry.com

Steve McCurry has provided us with countless photo from foreign places and a lot of picture have won awards and have been nationally

recognized. He has shed light onto foreign affairs and controversy as well as exposing us to life outside the United States. He is a self proclaimed

Storyteller and that name fits him perfectly.

Impact

I major in Business at American International College and I don’t see how Steve McCurry could relate to my major. I could relate to how he is a freelance photographer and that is his business and how he makes money but that seems lazy to me.

So I will connect Steve to International Marketing and Management (some courses I have taken at AIC). Steve loves to travel to India and take photos. He loves it so much that he learned some of the their customs and way of life. He knows how to communicate with them and all around absorbed their culture. This is beneficial when you are a manager in an International field. If I live in the United States and I am trying to do business with Japan I should learn some of their customs and habits before trying to do business with them. For example, the Japanese value business cards. The treat business cards with respect and keep them in pristine condition. So I didn’t know this information and the Japanese person I am trying to do business with hands me their business card and I throw it out on my way out the door I could jeopardize my business endeavor.

My Major

At this point in Steve’s career you either love him or you hate him. You either believe that he has altered photos or you believe that it was a mistake by someone on his team and a person of Steve’s stature would never do such a thing. Steve has “been in the game” for more than 30 years and is considered a living legend. He is a veteran. After doing all this research Steve McCurry is now one of my favorite photographers. I love his work and how vivid the photos are. I have a list of images I want hanging in my house and some of his work will be on that list to display.

How He is Viewed ?

Hope You Enjoyed my Photojournalist

Profile of Steve McCurry