Steve McCurry is an American photographer who gained international acclaim for his arresting portrait of a young refugee known simply as Afghan Girl.
Originally published on the cover of National Geographic in 1985, the photograph shows a young Pashtun orphan, later identified as Sharbat Gula, who was living in a refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan, during the Soviet Union’s occupation of Afghanistan. The image is emblematic of McCurry’s work, which has brought him to war zones across the globe. Rather than focusing on the violence of the battlefield, McCurry seeks to capture the human face of conflict, distilling what is universal and recognizable in each portrait.
McCurry was born in Philadelphia and attended Penn State University, graduating cum laude with a degree in theater arts in 1974. After several years working at a newspaper in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, he left to work as a freelancer in India, where he honed his skill for capturing unguarded moments in daily life. Just prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in 1979, he crossed the border from Pakistan into Afghan rebel–controlled territory, wearing native garb to disguise himself, with rolls of film sewn into his clothing. The photographs he took there were among the first in the world to document the conflict, and his work was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal for “photographic reporting from abroad.”
Over the course of his career, McCurry has documented daily life alongside conflicts in Cambodia, the Philippines, the former Yugoslavia, Beirut, Iraq, Afghanistan and Tibet. Though his photos depict serious and sometimes frightening situations, his ability to connect with subjects and capture something of their personalities allows his images to transcend the documentarian distance of wartime journalism. The results are real portraits that happen to be set in tough situations. Welder in a Ship Breaking Yard, Mumbai, India (1994), for instance, reveals only the subject’s eyes, but they’re so intently fixed on McCurry’s lens that they seem to express volumes. Monk Running on Wall (2004) shows a young monk defying gravity as he skitters along an exterior wall of the Shaolin Monastery in Henan, China, over the heads of his friends. Like a Baroque painting, McCurry’s picture captures a moment of dynamic action that reveals something instantly recognizable in a subject from another part of the world.
Find original Steve McCurry photography on 1stDibs.
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Blue Mosque, Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Photograph of birds flying around the Blue Mosque at Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan Additional sizes available.
Archival Pigment
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Portrait Photographer, Kabul, Afghanistan
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Photograph of a portrait photographer in Afghanistan Additional sizes available.
Archival Pigment
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Man Walks Through Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto, Japan
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
A man walking through a shrine in Kyoto, Japan. Signed, numbered, and dated on verso. Additional sizes available
Archival Pigment
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Kashmir Houseboat
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Photograph of houseboats in Kashmir. Signed, numbered, and dated on verso. Additional sizes available
Archival Pigment
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Train Station, Agra
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Photograph of a train station in Agra, India. Signed by the artist on verso, numbered, and dated. Please contact us for additional sizes.
Archival Pigment
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Holi Festival, Rajasthan, India
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Men covered in powder during the Holi Festival in Rajasthan, India. Signed by the artist on verso, numbered, and dated. Please contact us for additional sizes.
Archival Pigment
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Buddha and Bicycle, Mandalay, Burma
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Photo of a large buddha sculpture on the ground with a bicyclist in the background. Signed by the artist on verso, numbered, and dated. Please ...
Archival Pigment
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Afghan Girl with Hands on Face
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Photo of the iconic "Afghan Girl." FujiFlex Crystal Archive Print . Signed by the artist on verso, numbered, and dated. Edition of 30
Archival Pigment
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Tourists Lounge Poolside, Sri Lanka
By Steve McCurry
Located in New York, NY
This print is in an edition of 15 and is signed by the photographer. Additional sizes may be available upon request.
C Print
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Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Photograph by renowned photographer Steve McCurry of the aqueduct of Padre Templeque in Mexico. Signed, numbered, and dated on verso. Please contact us for additional sizes.
Archival Pigment
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Gozanoishi Shrine
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Photograph by renowned photographer Steve McCurry of the Gozanoishi Shrine in Japan. Signed by the artist on verso, numbered, and dated. Edition of 30 Please contact us for additio...
Archival Pigment
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Man Walks on Crawick Multiverse
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Photograph by renowned photographer, Steve McCurry, of a man walking on Crawick Multiverse in Scotland, UK. Signed, numbered, and dated on verso. Please contact us for additional si...
Archival Pigment
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Flower Vendor on Dal Lake
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
A flower vendor's boat on Dal Lake in Kashmir. Please contact us for additional sizes.
Archival Pigment
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Intha Fisherman
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Print of Intha fisherman in Burma. Signed by the artist on verso, numbered, and dated. Please contact us for additional sizes.
Photographic Paper
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Monks Praying at Golden Rock, Kyaikto
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Monks praying at Golden Rock in Kyaikto, Burma. Signed, numbered, and dated on verso. Please contact us for additional sizes.
Photographic Paper
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Fisherman on Inle Lake, Ed. of 15
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Man fishing on Inle Lake in Burma. Signed by the artist on verso, numbered, and dated. Please contact us for additional sizes.
Photographic Paper
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Procession of Nuns, Rangoon
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Nuns in Rangoon, Burma. Signed, numbered, and dated on verso. Please contact us for additional sizes.
Photographic Paper
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Afghan Girl (Peshawar, Pakistan)
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Print of Afghan girl. Signed by the artist on verso, numbered, and dated.
Photographic Paper
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Girl on Ship Prow
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Girl on the Ship's Prow, with a turquoise boat in the background in Burma. Signed, numbered, and dated on verso. Please contact us for additional sizes. Cavalier Galleries...
Archival Pigment
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Boy From Suri Tribe
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Boy From Suri Tribe, Ethiopia. Signed, numbered, and dated on verso. Please contact us for additional sizes. Cavalier Galleries Greenwich, Nantucket...
Archival Pigment
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Russian Car in Old Havana
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Green Russian Car in Old Havana with Green and Pink Walls, Cuba Please contact us for additional sizes.
Archival Pigment
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Rajasthan Stepwell
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Rajasthan Stepwell, India. Signed, numbered, and dated on verso. Cavalier Galleries Greenwich, New York, Nantucket, Palm Beach
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
Elephant with Sleeping People
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Photo of an Elephant with Sleeping People, India. Signed, numbered, and dated on verso. Please contact us for additional sizes. Cavalier Galleries ...
Archival Pigment
Woman in Costume for Perugia, Medieval Summer Festival, 2012
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Woman in Costume for Perugia, Medieval Summer Festival. Signed by the artist on verso, numbered, and dated. Please contact us for additional sizes. ...
Archival Pigment
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Bicycles on Side of Train
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Photo of Bicycles on the Side of a Train, India. Signed by the artist on verso, numbered, and dated. Please contact us for additional sizes. Cavalier Galleries...
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
Banaue Rice Terraces
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Banaue Rice Terraces in the Philippines. Signed, numbered, and dated on verso. Please contact us for additional sizes. Cavalier Galleries Greenwich, Ne...
Archival Pigment
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Boy Rides Bike Down Dirt Road
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Boy Rides Bike Down Dirt Road in Vietnam Please contact us for additional sizes. Cavalier Galleries Greenwich, New York, Nantucket
Archival Pigment
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Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, 2007
By Steve McCurry
Located in New York, NY
Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, 2007
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Dodgers Stadium, Los Angeles, 1991
By Steve McCurry
Located in New York, NY
Kal Daniels, Darryl Strawberry, and Gary Carter, Dodgers Stadium, Los Angeles, 1991
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Shaolin Monks Training
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Signed, numbered, and dated on verso. Please contact us for additional sizes.
Archival Pigment
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Kashmir Flower Seller
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
signed and numbered limited edition photograph Please contact us for additional sizes.
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
Boy in Mid-Flight
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Signed, numbered, and dated on verso. Please contact us for additional sizes.
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
Taj and Train
By Steve McCurry
Located in Greenwich, CT
Signed, numbered, and dated on verso.
Archival Pigment