Daniel Hopkins

Unit 57: Photography and Photographic Practice

Research of other photographers work (P1, M1, D1)

Photographer: Steve McCurry

1. Afghan Girl- Pakistan Refugee Camp, December 1984

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2. Tuareg Woman, Mali, 1986

3. Native American Man- Arizona, USA. 2007.

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4. Maimana, Afghanistan, 2002.

Theme or focus of images The four above images have been taken by acclaimed, award winning American photojournalist, Steve McCurry. He often focuses on individual person rather than a landscape or collection of people. This is because he wants to illustrate the human emotions and consequences of certain events and situations. In a quote I found, McCurry said: “Most of my images are grounded in people. 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, a person caught in a broader landscape, that you could call the human condition”. From this, I gathered that he seeks to portray the pure, raw emotions of his photographic subjects, in order to paint the most realistic scenario and situation as possible. This means that the photographs will be highly realistic, with them not looking either set-up or considerably pre-planned.

Each has a portrait theme and accordingly, the first and second are under the tab ‘Portraits’ on his online image gallery. However, the latter two are from different sections: The third is from a tab entitled ‘The American West’ and the fourth is from an archived set of images from Steve McCurry, from a gallery named ‘Afghanistan’. I picked the four images as the subjects of each display similar emotions yet are completely different portraits. The people within the images are in different locations at different times under different circumstances and situations. I could have picked all four directly from the portrait section, but the two that are not intrigued me as photographs and I believe that I will be able to critically analyse them more, due to their varied nature.

1. Afghan Girl.

The first photograph above is entitled ‘Afghan Girl’ and was taken at a Pakistan Refugee camp in 1984. The girl had been displaced due to the ongoing Soviet war in Afghanistan and Steve McCurry had managed to sneak into the country, dressed in traditional robes, to document the lives of people within the camp. The photograph was subsequently placed on the front page of National Geographic in 1985 and has since become iconic. The girl appears to be sat down, in front of a blue-green background, which is probably a tent or wooden wall. She is wearing a red headscarf, which hangs loosely on her body. It is also torn, revealing a green material underneath. As I read, the opportunity to

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photograph an Afghan female was rare and so I think the only intent the photographer had while taking the photograph was to simply capture an image of her. However, her eye colour almost perfectly matches the material under her headscarf and the background, which may or may not have been an intent of McCurry. The matching colours contrast very well with the red, which gives the photograph great aesthetic value. The headscarf almost seems to frame her face, drawing even more attention to the undisputed pinnacle of the photograph- her eyes.

The surrounding colours including her clothes, background and dark complexion compliment her piercing green eyes and cause them to stand out, immediately drawing people to her stare. The eyes of her present not just a striking image but plenty of emotion. Her eyes suggest that she has seen some horrific sights in her childhood than most will see in their entire lives. They are quite haunting as her wide-eyed stare looks straight at you, which I would relate to images of soldiers during conflicts in which they display the ‘thousand yard stare’. The photo effectively shows that she has had no childhood and any remnants of innocence and youth have been drained from her. This can be reinforced by the fact her eyes seem suspicious and vigilant of the man taking the image of her, which may be down to her turbulent, tragic life. Her pursed lips and eyes also seem to carry hints of anger and defiance, perhaps at the fact she is now living in a refugee camp. Her eyes both reflect light from her left hand side, which makes them appear brighter and helps them stand out more. The girl’s headscarf is torn and dirty, her hair is untidy and her face is slightly dirty, which provides visual evidence of hardship in the photograph. I think this is something that the photographer wanted to show.

Steve McCurry wanted to capture the sadness and despair of the Afghan people during the war and it can be argued that he has perfectly done it within this photograph. It stands out, carries emotion and its content is visually striking. In the quote I provided above, he states that he looks for ‘the unguarded moment’ and ‘experience etched on a person’s face’. This is executed well in his photograph of the Afghan girl as the eyes and face do carry experience, while it is clearly an unguarded moment, showing her immediate facial response which as I stated above, carries anger and defiance.

2. Tuareg Woman.

The second photograph above is entitled Tuareg Woman and is of a woman in Mali, taken by Steve McCurry in 1986. Unlike Afghan girl and speaking literally, like almost every portrait photograph that has been taken, this one is not well-known or famous. Subsequently, I was not able to find any background on the photograph other than the fact it was taken in 1986, in Mali.

In the image, we can see a black woman in a bright blue headscarf, which is tightly wrapped around her head. Something of note is that it is clearly more cared for and in better condition than the one belonging to ‘Afghan Girl’. I think this speaks volumes about the situations of both women. The woman in the photograph has a rather stoic expression. Her face shows very little emotion and she only seems to be looking plainly ahead. However, I think there are hints of anger and exhaustion as her face is slightly contorted, showing wrinkles which may be due to a small frown. The background is blurred as the depth of field only covers the woman at the fore. It can still be made out though and it appears to be a stretching desert, with a very small amount of greenery and a blue sky. I think the out-of-focus background was meant to be like that in order to create the illusion that it never ends, with nothing visible beyond the sand hills/dunes. This creates a feeling of desolation and emptiness as the woman is in a seemingly terrible situation. This is something that interests me about the photograph: I do not know what the situation of the woman in the photograph, though its appearance instantly makes me think that it is a dire one.

There also appears to be another person in the background, wearing blue just like the woman at the fore. The other person could be another woman, who is part of the same tribe/group as the Tuareg Woman. I think that the photographer did this to show that the woman is not alone in her situation and even though she isn’t in a great position, there is somebody with her. The image is very good and while

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I don’t think that it has the same aesthetic value or eye catching factor of the ‘Afghan Girl, it reveals both emotion and some sense of a situation.

3. Native American Man

The third photograph above is entitled Native American Man and was taken in Arizona, USA in 2007. The image comes from a gallery on Steve McCurry’s website entitled ‘The American West’. The ma appears to have a boulder or mountain behind him, which will be to deliberately show the idea of the American West- sprawling landscapes and mountains. As a Native American, he will not have suffered, but will know of the hardships and pain suffered by his ancestors. They were forced from their homelands and pushed into reservations, regularly being slaughtered by American soldiers.

Unlike the first two images, the photograph shows more of the upper body of the subject. I think the photographer did this to ensure the background was clearer and more prominent, to help create the environment for the gallery section. The man may be visiting an ancient home of his ancestors, or a place sacred to his people many years ago. He may even just be using a boulder as a background to illustrate the point of the American West. Whatever the reason, he is still clearly not in a positive mood. While I wouldn’t describe him as being angry or sad, I think he looks exhausted and frustrated, with perhaps even a hint of humbleness. However, I think I may be making this assumption primarily due to the fact the man is clearly old. He is more respectful of his ancestors’ lives than most people and is subject to showing his emotions more. He has an overall neutral expression and is resting his arm on the rock around him in a very relaxed manner.

4. Maimana, Afghanistan, 2002.

This fourth photograph is from 2002 and was taken in Maimana, Afghanistan. It depicts a young boy carrying a plough, while at the top of a huge mountain. A man with two cows is in the background. Something that sets this photograph apart from the first two is the fact that that the background is more prominent, while the portrait of the individual, like the third photograph, covers the subject from mid-body upwards. The photo on the whole has much more going on than the other three, as there are more things to look at within the frame. The mountain range/hills in the background seem to stretch forever, with no clear end in sight. This creates a feeling of desolation and emptiness, with the two subjects (main and peripheral) looking to be in the middle of nowhere.

The boy is carrying a large plough, providing the visual hardship to show the suffering of the subject within the photograph. As mentioned above, the background is much more prominent and seems to match the dark coloured clothing of the boy, the muddy plough and the man and cows. This makes for a very dark, almost lifeless photograph. This can be reinforced by the fact the young boy has an almost crushed look about him. He appears very sad and it is most likely due to the depressing and distressing situation he is in- carrying a huge plough and most likely carrying out strenuous manual labour at such a young age. I can relate this to the first photograph, ‘Afghan Girl’, as both the subjects are in situations that they should not be at such a young age and arguably neither have experienced a normal, enjoyable childhood. The sky at the top of the frame is very cloudy and has a dark grey/blue look to it. As the skies are visible, it creates a more wide open photograph and helps to add to the effect of an almost fishbowl-esque area. I think that the photographer deliberately included this in the frame to portray more of the landscape and background that the subject (and portrait) is in.

Something that relates the four photographs above is the fact that they all have a theme of ethnicity. There are two Afghan’s, a Native American man and a black woman. The afghans and the black woman appear to be in worse situations than the man, with more sad and emotive facial expressions.

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The trio are also in more deprived areas (Afghanistan and Africa) while the man is in the USA. This shows that the man is in a much better situation than them. The first and second photograph show people in headscarves, showing that cultures and religions stretch across the globe. I think that this is an interesting connection. The second and fourth photograph show two people within their respective frames, which I think the photographer will have aimed to do to show that the main subjects of the photographs are not on their own and there are other people with them in that particular situation. I think he may also have intentionally wanted to include more in the frame. Apart from Afghan Girl, all of the photographs backgrounds are in a way related to the subject (portrait). The second photo has a desert and another person, showing she lives in a desert. The third shows a boulder/mountain to relate to the theme of the American West (the man is Native American- commonly associated with the American West and known as ‘Indians’). The fourth and final shows a mountain range/ plethora of hills, relating to the boy’s presumed job as a farmer or labourer.

1. This photograph was taken in a refugee camp in Pakistan, so if the camera was zoomed out to reveal more of the background, I think it may reveal a tent or building and perhaps more people. I think the photographer stood an average distance away from the subject of the photograph and zoomed in, to capture a concise portrait. If zoomed out, there may be more elements to the background. I think this would mean the photograph would lose its aesthetic value, as the small amount of colours already in the frame work extremely well together. I think that if the photograph featured more than its basic background, colours and girl, the attention would be drawn away from her striking facial expression. It may also take away the raw human element that the photograph brilliantly conveys.

2. The photograph has clearly been taken in a desert, with the main subject in the foreground acting as a portrait and another person in the background as a peripheral element. I think the photographer stood an average distance away from the subject so that he could clearly get the person in the background in the photograph. The woman also appears to be positioned slightly more to the right, which was most likely an intention of the photographer to show the person in the background. I think if he stood further away and/or zoomed out there would be an expansion on what is already seen in the photograph- more sky and desert and possibly more people. However, I think the limited background does enough to illustrate the woman’s situation and I think that any more would take away from the portraiture element of the photograph.

3. The third photograph has been taken showing the subject from the torso upwards, with a boulder, cave or part of a mountain immediately behind him. I think the reason more of the subject is seen is because the photographer wanted to capture more of the background, as well as the man resting his arm on a part of it as well as his long hair. I think he accomplished this by standing back more than he usually does for a standard portrait. I think that if the photographer stood further back, you would only see more of the background, which I don’t think would offer much to the image in a large quantity.

4. The fourth and final photograph is very different to the others in the fact that the background is more prominently featured, while a lot more is occurring within it. Steve McCurry has clearly stood back more and I believe this was to capture the plough the boy is holding, rather

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than the background. However, as standing further back would mean featuring more of the background, I think he chose the sprawling hills to add a better aesthetic look to the photograph. I think if he stood back even further, it would take away the portrait element of the photograph but capture a vivid landscape of more hills and sky. However, I also think he chose to have a certain amount of sky and hills in the frame to display the situation the young boy is in.

Techniques used

As the subjects of portrait photographs are standing still, a fast shutter speed is not required, so they will generally be shorter. I estimate that portraits use shutter speeds of 1/125 or lower.

In terms of depth of field the majority of portraits will be shallow (a narrow zone of the image is sharp). This applies to the first two photographs above and can be clearly identified in the second. The woman in the foreground (the main subject of the image) is sharp and clear, while the background and the other person is not. The first image does not have much of a background, though it isn’t sharp and therefore shallow. The third features a man with an immediate background of a boulder/mountain. As he is so close to his background, the depth of field is deeper. The fourth photograph is unique in the way it effectively covers both portrait and landscape genres. The sky is clearly overcast, which is ideal for a portrait and means a lack of overexposure. The background of hills, a man and goats and the sky do not appear too blurry and so have a very deep depth of field. I think this was done because the huge sprawling background needed to be correctly addressed in the image and not merely used peripherally.

Thinking of rules of thirds, all of the people are positioned at the approximate location of line intersections. Nearly all of the photographs comply with the rule of thirds, and feature something else in a intersect position that viewers will be drawn to. The first photographs frame is so small and concise that the subjects face and a limited amount of background is all that can be seen. On the second image, the woman is slightly to the right and another person can be seen in the background to the right, both on approximate intersections on a rule of thirds grid. On the third image, the man is dead-centre but his arm is resting to the left and there is a parting in the boulder/mountain to his right. For the final image, the huge plough the boy is holding is in the middle, while the boy is on the left and the man and his cows are on the right. This perfectly fits the ideal rule of thirds grid, as the boy and the man are both covering intersections.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths:

The photographs capture many emotions through the subject’s facial expressions. The backgrounds, when clearly identifiable and visible, are related to the subject and puts

their situation into context. The images are very clearly and focused on the face, perfecting the idea of a portrait. The colours in the image are either rich or bland, but they always seem to suit the situation

and subject of the image. The photographs are all very eye-catching.

Weaknesses:

Some of the images are darker than others. Mostly a lack of context- why does the person like that?

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