STEVE McCURRY
The untold story
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Steve McCurry  Steve McCurry  Steve McCurry  Steve McCurry  Steve McCurry in Thailand.  Steve McCurry |
Curator: Dmitry Ozerkov
The Moscow Museum of Modern Art, with the support of the State Hermitage, presents a solo exhibition of the world famous photographer Steve McCurry, “The Untold Story”. The project, the exhibition of which included more than 80 works, is intended to reveal the author’s creative method and for the first time introduce the viewer to the process of his work as a reportage photographer, including fragments from notebooks, routes of his movements, and unique series of photographs. The general partner of the project was BMW Group Russia.
Steve McCurry is a cult figure in the world of modern photography - artistic and reportage. When describing himself, he avoids the terms “photojournalist” and “reporter,” preferring to call himself an “observer” or “storyteller.”As in the real world, his photographs have a place for everything: idyllic portraits and landscapes, equally imbued with contemplation, a sense of color, a sense of intimacy, and genre sketches of natural disasters and humanitarian disasters, evoking a sense of belonging in the viewer.
One of the notes in McCurry’s travel notebook contains an ambiguous but succinct formula for a successful shot: “You have to get into the water to make good pictures,” which translated means “You must get into a truly difficult situation in order to take good photographs.” In particular, McCurry became the first photojournalist in Afghanistan to document local life against the backdrop of a military conflict, the coverage of which was censored in both America and the Soviet Union. Both in military footage and in series brought from travels in India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, where religious rituals, everyday scenes, lost traditions are depicted, the world is shown in all its diversity, the author manages to capture and record the human condition here and now, ultimately create a dialogue between the subject of the photograph and the viewer. His photographs need no explanation, the untold story of each of them exists beyond time and space, thereby connecting different civilizations.
Steve McCurry can safely be considered a continuator of the traditions of classical photography of the 20th century. The master’s artistic language combines a reportage approach with a sense of empathy for the hero of the photograph: the people caught in the lens become symbols of the era and constitute a factual cross-section of humanity. As the world's most widely traveled photographer, McCurry's urban and natural landscapes capture the incredible scale of the planet and speak about the importance of preserving tradition and culture. The camera has become a kind of passport for McCurry, without which he never leaves home.
The principle of his work with context, the desire to expand the viewer’s understanding, correspond to the tasks of a cultural institution, whose mission, through self-knowledge, is to introduce the new, while preserving the old. Planning to hold an exhibition a year ago, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art decided to turn to the State Hermitage, which successfully hosted the exhibition “A Moment of Defenselessness” in 2015, and invited Dmitry Ozerkov as the curator of the project. “The Untold Story” at MMOMA will present to the audience not only works from the collection of one of the largest art museums in the world, but also archival materials from the studio of Steve McCurry. The project at the museum on Gogolevsky Boulevard will be the first large-scale experience of cooperation between the two institutions and precedes the opening of the Hermitage - Moscow center.
For the opening of the project, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art released a catalog that introduces the viewer to the amount of information that was not included in the exhibition: an introductory article by curator Dmitry Ozerkov, where he “deciphers” the author’s methods and tells interesting facts from McCurry’s biography, as well as diary entries , slides, personal photographs of McCurry, travel documents. The unique publication can be purchased at MMOMA bookstores on Petrovka 25 and Gogolevsky Boulevard 10, as well as at the Educational Center of the Museum at Ermolaevsky 17.
On July 4, an open meeting with Steve McCurry and project curator Dmitry Ozerkov will take place in the exhibition space. Participation requires pre-registration and entrance ticket.
As part of the exhibition, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and the SimpleWine wine chain launched a joint campaign “Wines from the Cover”. The first thousand wine connoisseurs of artistic labels will receive a certificate for visiting the exhibition and a limited edition bag for the launch of the project. The promotion is valid from July 3 in all SimpleWine wine stores in Moscow.
The general partner of the project is BMW Group Russia.
The BMW Group supports all the world's leading art events, including Art Basel in Basel, Miami and Hong Kong, Frieze Art Fair and Frieze Masters London, Frieze New York, Paris Photo, Paris Photo Los Angeles and TEFAF Maastricht. The German concern also associates cooperation in the field of urbanism with the Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York and long-term projects with the Tate Modern gallery in London and the National Gallery in Berlin. As part of the BMW Opera Series, free open concerts with international stars of the classical stage are held annually in Munich, Berlin and London. The partnership with the BMW Group is the key to long-term cultural interaction: the company's participation guarantees complete creative freedom, as this principle is fundamental in the creation of both outstanding works of art and successful business innovations.
Cultural initiatives of the BMW Group
All over the world, BMW is associated with art thanks to its legendary BMW Art Car collection, in the creation of which such world stars as Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella and Cesar Manrique took part. Since the French racing driver and art connoisseur Hervé Poulain invited his friend artist Alexander Calder to paint a car in 1975, recognized artists from all over the world have created 17 unique art cars based on BMW cars. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the concern, the 18th and 19th art cars appeared, the design of which was developed by the Chinese artist Cao Fei and the famous American conceptualist John Baldessari.
In addition, the BMW Group supports iconic art events such as Art Basel in Basel, Miami and Hong Kong, Frieze Art Fair and Frieze Masters London, Frieze New York, Paris Photo, Paris Photo Los Angeles and TEFAF Maastricht. The German concern also associates cooperation in the field of urbanism with the Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York and long-term projects with the Tate Modern gallery in London and the National Gallery in Berlin. As part of the BMW Opera Series, free open concerts with international stars of the classical stage are held annually in Munich, Berlin and London. In June 2018, the project “BMW Opera without Borders” debuted in Moscow. In Russia, the BMW Group has been supporting the Bolshoi Theater and individual cultural initiatives for almost 15 years. In 2017, the concern, together with the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, launched a grant program in the area of Art and Technology.
As a reliable partner, the BMW Group is the key to long-term cultural cooperation. In every project in which the company takes part, the BMW Group guarantees complete creative freedom, as this principle is fundamental to the creation of both outstanding works of art and successful business innovations.
Steve McCurry's work includes many iconic images in the fields of photojournalism and documentary photography. The fruits of his creativity never cease to inspire and amaze people around the globe, leaving indelible impressions. With his intense and passionate career spanning over 30 years, McCurry is widely recognized as one of the greatest photographers of our time.
The future photographer was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and studied film art at the university of his native state. He worked freelance for a local newspaper for several years before deciding to travel to India, taking rolls of film with him.
After several months in India, he crossed the Pakistani border and then entered Afghanistan. McCurry changed his appearance and grew a beard so as not to stand out in the crowd. Then he made his first images of the conflict in Afghanistan. This was his entry into the world of realistic photography, which has dominated his work ever since.
Pictured is Steve McCurry.
About Steve McCurry and his photographs:
Above all, McCurry's work bridged the gap that existed between artistic and realistic photography. They combine both.
His photographs don't need any explanation. Good photos don't need a description. The photographer’s works fully correspond to this phrase; they are understandable to people of all ages and classes.
His color photographs carry additional meaning. In McCurry's photographs, colors play an important role in defining the mood of the frame. Color and brightness have additional meaning and become part of the photograph.
The excellent composition in McCurry's photographs transforms them into works of art. (9 tips on photo composition using examples from the legendary Steve McCurry)
McCurry has studied the genre of street photography from greats such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, but he always adds something of his own.
He remained as passionate about his work as he was when he first started.
Pictured is Steve McCurry
Steve McCurry Quotes:
- If you want to be a photographer, first leave home.
- Individuality is important to my work. I shoot stories on assignment, and of course the photos have to be consistent. But the most important thing is that each image exists on its own, with its own position and feelings.
- Most of my photography is based on people, I look at the "unguarded moment" when the soul peeks out, then life experiences are etched on the person's face.
- There is an urgent need in my life to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport.
- Photography is undoubtedly a powerful medium. Free from the language barrier, it freezes unique moments in time.
"Afghan Girl"
Fishermen, Sri Lanka, 1995.
Rajasthan, India, 2008.
Jodhpur, India, 2007.
A boy wearing red paint at the Holi festival. Mumbai, India, 1996.
Holi Festival, Rajasthan, India, 1996.
Representative of the Rabari tribe, India, 2010.
Father and son in their home. Jodhpur, India, 1996.
Bombay, India, 1993.
Porbandar, Gujarat, India, 1983.
Representative of the Rabari tribe in India, 2010.
Monsoon at Chandani Chowk, Delhi, 1983.
Porbandar, India, 1983.
Flower seller. Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, 1999.
Rajasthan, India, 1996.
Grand Central Station in New York, 2010.
Railway platform in Delhi, India, 1983.
Shakhtar, Puli-Khumri, Afghanistan, 2002.
Farmer in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, 1992.
Portrait of an Afghan refugee in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Schoolgirl, Herat, Afghanistan, 1992.
Photographer with his camera. Kabul, Afghanistan, 1992.
School, Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
Myanmar, Burma, 2011.
Chaittiyo Pagoda (Golden Stone), a Buddhist shrine in Mon State in Myanmar, 1994.
Yangon, Myanmar, 1994.
Geisha climbing the stairs of an office building. Kyoto, Japan, 2007.
Fisherman on Inle Lake, Burma. 2008.
Agra, India, 1983.
Vrindavana, India, 1995.
Angkor, Cambodia, 1997.
Angkor, Cambodia, 2000.
Angkor, Cambodia, 1999.
Tibet, 2001.
Steve McCurry(English) Steve McCurry, R. 1950) - contemporary American photographer, photojournalist, editor. His photograph became widely known "Afghan Girl".
Biography, creativity
Steve McCurry born February 24, 1950 in Philadelphia, USA. He graduated magna cum laude from Pennsylvania State University in 1974 with a degree in theater arts. McCurry took his first photographs for the university newspaper, The Daily Collegian.
After graduating from university, Steve McCurry spent some time taking photographs for the small newspaper Today's Post in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, after which he left for India, where he worked as a freelance photographer.
Shortly before the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, Steve McCurry, together with journalist Debra Denker, dressed in inconspicuous clothes, illegally crossed the border into Pakistan in a zone that was at that time controlled by the rebels. Later, when he left the war zone, he had to sew the footage into his clothes. Subsequently, his photographs were published in magazines such as The New York Times, TIME and Paris Match. In addition, for his work, the photographer was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal (award in the field of photojournalism) for the best photo report from abroad.
In subsequent years, McCurry continued to cover armed conflicts. Among others, he worked during the Iran-Iraq War, the Lebanese Civil War, the Cambodian Islamic Insurgency Civil War in the Philippines, the Gulf War, and the Afghan Civil War. His photographs were often published in National Geographic magazine. Steve McCurry has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1986.
In 2001, Steve McCurry's work was exhibited at the Leo Burnett International Art Exhibition with Italian artist Umberto Pettinicchio in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 2003, the documentary film "The Face of the Human Condition" was released, directed by Denis Delistrak about the life and work of McCurry.
In 2005, Steve McCurry stopped using film. He explained his decision by saying that digital media is much more convenient in the field and, more importantly, photographs can always be sent outside the “danger zone.” In an interview with The Guardian, the photographer said: "Old habits may be hard to break, but my experience is that most of my colleagues, regardless of their age, have switched to digital... The quality has never been better. Plus, now I can , for example, working in extremely low light conditions." However, in June 2010, McCurry took part in a Kodak promotion: the photographer was asked to use the latest Kodachrome film, the production of which had already been suspended at that time. The photographs taken as part of this project were posted publicly on the Internet by Vanity Fair magazine.
In May 2013, McCurry worked on photographs for the Pirelli 2013 Rio de Janeiro calendar.
In 2016, Steve McCurry found himself at the center of a scandal related to the fact that some of his photographs were edited in various editors (for example, the photograph "Afghan Girl" was cropped for use on the cover). McCurry himself, however, reacted quite calmly to the accusations, saying that he does not consider himself a photojournalist, but rather a visual storyteller, who, however, does not lie to his audience, because The changes made do not affect the veracity of the image. The scandal once again raised a number of theoretical questions related to the impossibility of depicting truth in photography.
"Afghan Girl"
Steve McCurry took his most famous photograph in December 1984. The photo, which became known as the Afghan Girl, was taken in a Pashtun refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan. In June 1985, she appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine and was later voted "the most famous photograph" in the magazine's history by USA Today. A number of publications (including National Geographic itself and American Photo) call this photograph the “Afghan Mona Lisa.”
Steve McCurry tried several times to find the girl he photographed, but only succeeded in January 2002. As it turned out, her name Sharbat Gula and in 1984 she was about 13 years old (Gula herself does not know exactly her age). She ended up in a refugee camp after her parents were killed in a Soviet helicopter attack on their village.
The photo was taken on Kodachrome color film using a Nikon FM2 camera with a Nikkor 2.5/105 lens (105 mm focal length) without additional lighting. It is curious that when taking this photograph, McCurry considered himself particularly lucky that he was able to capture the face of an Afghan woman, which is usually covered by a burqa. Sharbat Gula herself did not know about her fame until 2002 and saw the photograph only in 2003.
Steve McCurry is a world-famous photographer, but in 2016 there was a lot of buzz around his work. The fact is that the public noticed that the interventions of the healing brush were not of the highest quality. Steve McCurry removed objects from photographs that were out of touch with the artistic composition. The photographs became more aesthetically pleasing, but given the photographer's close collaboration with National Geographic, his work had to reflect reality to a greater extent than be works of art.
If you're not using your street photos for photojournalism or high-fidelity reporting, you can follow Steve McCurry's example and retouch them. By the end of this article, you'll know exactly what to remove and what to move to another location to achieve the perfect composition.
Ethics in Photography
Photojournalism must convey real stories in the form of photographs that have not been altered. We can also tell stories with our pictures, but we have the right to edit, since we do not receive money for our work and our pictures will not end up in the news and mislead people due to photo manipulation.
Most street photographers follow the ethics of street photography and leave images as they were originally taken, while some prefer to manipulate the content.
Steve McCurry is now positioned as a visual storyteller, so he is no longer concerned with the ethics of a photojournalist. If we define ourselves as street photographers or photojournalists, we should not engage in photo manipulation. This will make your story a lie. Even if the smallest details are changed, it will still be interference in real events.
Understanding the principles of editing
Most of Steve McCurry's photographs are portraits, but we will be looking at his landscape photographs. Photographs usually have a slight human element when people are in random places and ruin the harmony of the composition. The final result after processing will be a polished image with excellent content without distracting elements.
Most of us understand how to get the composition right. You also know how to edit your photos, but how to remove distracting elements?
First, we must start with an image with good composition. No amount of post-processing or cropping can save a bad photo.
In the first example we see a surfer getting ready to catch a wave, but we also have a lot of distractions that take up some of the attention and the figure of the person no longer seems so significant. People in the water, the sign, large stones and reflections in the water are too contrasting and large. There is also a deficiency on palm leaves.
A Hue/Saturation adjustment layer in Photoshop was used with masks to add more color to the sky and change the color of the surfboard. The color red stands out in many of Steve McCurry's photographs. It grabs the viewer's attention and helps complete the color palette. If red, blue and green dominate the image, the photo will look more meaningful and balanced.
Look at the adjustment layers used for editing in Photoshop. A gray layer was added at the top to give the image a denser color, similar to what we see in many of McCurry's shots. The gray color code used is #eff0f1. The layer is set to the "Multiply" blending mode with an opacity of 50%.
The remaining images are edited in a similar manner, with an emphasis on eliminating distractions.
For example, in the following image the head of a tourist is in the frame and there are some other distracting elements. When taking the photo, it was important to ensure that the statue's arms did not overlap the palm trees, so the correct position had to be chosen. One step left or right could ruin everything.
Also in the picture, the floral elements lying in the hands of the statue awkwardly rest against the bottom edge of the picture. The bright gap between the leaves on the left side of the palm distracts attention. All this needs to be eliminated.
The essence of editing is simple. You need to find everything in the picture that catches your eye, and if it is not a significant element for the story, remove it. Let's look at a few more examples.
The cone in the next photo takes a lot of attention, especially since it is located close to the edge. There are too many objects in the distance. But we won't delete them all. In the foreground there are two people on the left and one on the right. Let's make a mirror reflection in the distance. Let's also leave two people on the left and one on the right. Not many will notice this move, but it will balance the composition.
The following example shows a more complex adjustment. The part of the building on the right breaks the symmetry. It must be removed carefully so as not to disturb the edges of the rest of the building. If your eyes constantly catch on some objects that distract attention from the essence of the photo, remove them.
Here you need to correct the horizon line. With the usual method, part of the sign will be cropped, so I had to expand the boundaries of the photo and rotate it slightly. Thus, part of the image was not completely filled. The gap can be filled by sky cloning.
The color palette of the photo is dark, so the color of the manhole cover was changed to red, completing the color harmony. Glare on the sign has been reduced.
This is a simple shot of clouds reflecting on water. The image was taken with a slight margin on the right, so we crop this area. Other distracting elements, such as people on the beach and their belongings, have been removed.
Conclusion
Removing distracting elements is one of the best ways to keep your attention on the subject and polish the image to perfection. If you decide to take the path of a visual storyteller rather than a photojournalist, then pay attention to what spoils your composition and feel free to clear the image of anything unnecessary.
Steve McCurry is a photographer known all over the world. He is the author of a truly masterpiece of modern photographic art - a photograph that has become the most recognizable cover in the more than hundred-year history of the popular National Geographic magazine. We are talking about a photo called “Afghan girl”. This photograph is probably known to everyone - both ordinary people in different countries and professional photographers. Many of Steve McCurry's works delight viewers with their truthfulness and poignancy. His photographs have become iconic in the history of documentary photography and photojournalism.
This documentary photographer managed to become famous in all countries of the world. His photographs inspired and continue to inspire and excite the hearts of people. They leave an indelible impression on their souls for many years.
For more than thirty years, Steve McCurry has been passionately working in photography, in the genre of photo reporting. Over the years, he has accumulated tremendous experience in this profession and has truly become one of the greatest photographers on the planet of our time.
Steve McCurry was born in the USA, in Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. As a young man, he studied at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a degree in film arts. While still a student, he began publishing in local newspapers, where he subsequently worked for several years as a freelancer. But soon the young photographer and journalist no longer found work in his native country, and he decided to go to India. Taking with him only the most necessary things - a backpack with clothes, a camera and boxes of film, he left for this country far from America with the goal of exploring it through the prism of photography, showing the world the life of its people.
Steve spent several months in India. After that, he crossed the Pakistani border, and from Pakistan he reached Afghanistan. In order to not stand out from the crowd and not be particularly noticeable on city streets, he grew a beard and slightly changed his appearance. It was at this time that he took the first photographs of the Afghan war, which for McCurry became the start to the world of realistic, hard photo reporting. Since then, this genre can be called dominant in his work for this American photographer.
Steve's work in the genre of documentary photography, and not only in it, is truly unique. The realistic portraits he created of different people living in different parts of the planet became iconic and turned into a kind of symbols. How does Steve McCurry's work differ from the work of other documentary and fine art photographers?
The first thing I want to say is probably that McCurry has significantly reduced the gap that exists between hard, realistic photo reporting and artistic photography. His works combine both harmoniously and organically.
Steve's work needs no explanation. Agree, there is no need to attach any description to work done at such a high professional level. They are immediately understandable to all people in all countries of the world, regardless of class and education.
Color in McCurry's photographs carries a special, additional load. Art historians and critics who study the art of photography consider shooting in color to be much more difficult than black and white photography. In Steve's works, color plays an important role. It determines the mood of his photographs and reports in general. Color is perhaps one of the important components of his work.
The objects that Steve shoots, the things that fall within the boundaries of his frames, elevate his work to the highest level. This probably happens because the photographer has thoroughly studied classical fine art. Or maybe another explanation can be found for this: McCurry creates his photographs in a natural, intuitive way, without thinking about theory, like many outstanding masters in other forms of art. But, nevertheless, his photographs can safely be called classics of photography. In them
And Steve McCurry is a great observer. He can and knows how to perfectly see everything that comes into his field of vision. This is one of the most unique qualities of this wonderful photographer. It is the choice of subject that most often leads his photographs to such outstanding success.
Among other things, Steve McCurry has perfectly studied the genre of street photography. His teachers in this work can be called such great masters of photographic art as Henri Cartier-Bresson and many other photographers from different times and countries. But McCurry himself brought a lot to this genre. His hallmark as a street photographer is the ease and beauty of his images.
And one more feature of Steve McCarry is his undying ability to work for decades. Steve works hard and hard. His enthusiasm, passion for work and in his mature years the master remained the same as they were at the beginning of his photographic career, at the beginning of his path in the world of photography, the path to success.
Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry at Chautauqua Institution Photo Week
What the master says about the work of a photographer
If you want to become a successful photographer, the first thing you need to do is get out of your own home.
For successful creative work, any photographer needs to develop his own style. I have to take photographs to order, and therefore my work must be agreed upon with those who order it. But, nevertheless, each photograph must be individual in its own way, it must express its own feelings, stand in its own place, intended only for it.
I photograph a lot of different people. Perhaps all my creativity is based on photographing them. I love to watch a person and try to capture that fleeting, single moment when his soul peeks out for a second. At this moment, this person’s whole life will be written in his eyes, on his face.
The main thing in my profession, in my life, is to wander around the world and observe what is happening in it. My camera in this case is my passport. Photography is one of the most powerful forms of art. Photos don't need borders. Neither geographical nor linguistic. Photography can freeze in time the most unique moments of everything that happens in the world around us.
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