Steve McCurry photos on display in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

U.S. war photographer Steve McCurry, known as one of the best visual artists for his works that witness history, is a guest of the Istanbul Cinema Museum with an exhibition.

McCurry is best known for his most famous photograph titled “Afghan Girl: Şarbat Gula.”

Gulla gained international fame in 1984 as an Afghan refugee girl, after McCurry’s photograph of her, with piercing green eyes, was published on the cover of National Geographic. McCurry found her again in 2002.

The Steve McCurry photography exhibition brings together 51 of the artist’s most well-known and remembered works shot in many different parts of the world over the past 30 years. In addition to the works photographed by the artist during his 2011 trip to Istanbul, the exhibition presents six never-before-published frames, including Ara Güler.

Steve McCurry, who gained worldwide fame with his photograph published with the title “Afghan Girl” (Afghan Girl: Sharbat Gula) in the June 1985 issue of National Geographic Magazine, offers windows to other worlds with the forms and colors, shapes and symmetries he presents with an intelligent eye.

The artist, who gets his strength from his great curiosity towards every living being on earth, focuses on short moments of human experience by going beyond language and cultural boundaries with a unique talent.

Stating that his photographs describe human emotions dominated by unease and the relations a person establishes with his/her own environment, McCurry says, “Our responsibility is to convey stories about the place and situation we live in to the world honestly, completely and on time.”

The exhibition can be seen through July 31 at the Istanbul Cinema Museum.

McCurry is one of the most iconic names in contemporary photography for more than 50 years, with scores of magazine and book covers, over a dozen books, and countless exhibitions around the world to his name.

Born in Philadelphia, McCurry studied film at Pennsylvania State University, before going on to work for a local newspaper. After several years of freelance work, he made his first trip to India. He made his way across the subcontinent, exploring the country with his camera.

It was after several months of travel that he crossed the border into Pakistan. There, he met a group of refugees from Afghanistan, who smuggled him across the border into their country, just as the Russian Invasion was closing the country to all Western journalists. McCurry brought the world the first images of the conflict in Afghanistan, putting a human face to the issue on every masthead.

Since then, McCurry has gone on to create stunning images on all seven continents and countless countries. His work spans conflicts, vanishing cultures, ancient traditions and contemporary culture alike - yet always retains the human element that made his celebrated image of the Afghan Girl such a powerful image.

McCurry has won some of the most prestigious awards in the industry, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal. The Minister of French Culture has appointed McCurry a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters and the Royal Photographic Society in London awarded McCurry the Centenary Medal for Lifetime Achievement.