Afghan Girl, 1984.

Afghan Girl, 1984.

Steve McCurry is arguably the most famous portrait photographer of all time. His picture Afghan girl is one of the most recognizable portraits of all time. It has even been likened to Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Mona Lisa.

STEVE MCCURRY

What Is The Context?

Steve Mccurry had taken many other pictures of afghan people and thought little of this particular picture. He was captured by her shyness and her huge green eyes. This was the first time she had ever had a picture taken of herself. This photograph was on the cover of National Geographic in 1985 when the women’s green eyes caught the attention of the nation. She did not have another picture taken of herself until Steve returned again seventeen years later.

No one, not even the photographer knew her name until he returned those 17 years later. The photograph was taken in the town of Peshawar where she lived. When he returned to find her only one man recognized the woman in the picture. It took her three days to arrive. After a six hour drive and three hour hike, she arrived. At her arrival, Steve instantly recognized her. Her name is Sharbat Gula, a Pashtun, the most warlike of Afghan tribes. The 17 year question was finally answered. She had a very rough life. She was six when the soviets bombed and killed her parents. Her and her brother had to flee from the incoming Russians in order to survive. She was constantly on the run with her brother and got an arranged marriage at only 16. She said the only way that she survived it all was that it was, “The will of God”.

What is The artist communicating and How?

In this photo, the artist is trying to demonstrate the life of the people that were in Afghanistan. This photo has a profound effect on everyone who sees it. You can the the furry and resilience in the woman's eyes for her life and constant fight for survival. The women in the photograph had a very hard life constantly on the run. Back in America, most people didn't really know how other people in the world were getting affected by the war. This photograph in my opinion does a great job of demonstrating this. This is such a strong image because it shows the difficulty that the people lived through and at the same time does so without displaying any gore or inappropriate aspects. The woman's simple but profound facial expression demonstrates the level of suffering and force the people had in order to simply stay alive and persevere. You can tell that the woman has a complicated back story by just a glimpse of this picture. Steve, the photographer, did not know this woman at all when he took the picture and when it became popular after it was on the cover of National Geographic magazine. But when he visited her 17 years later he instantly recognized her and felt like he knew her personally simply based on the image. When he visited he got her name and back story that people had wondered about ever since they laid their eyes on the picture of the young woman. Two themes that were demonstrated in this photograph are strength and war. Strength is demonstrated by how the camera is focused face on and it is her normal face, not posed for. War is demonstrated also in this photo from the location of the photo and what it can do to innocent people.

Why do I find this Beautiful?

I think that this is beautiful for several reasons. I think that first of all her eyes are amazing. The color and the way she is defiantly staring into the camera gives so much depth and power to the image. You can see her unfailing strength and perseverance and all of her struggles that she has had to overcome through her eyes. This picture is an amazing example of how your eyes are the refection of the soul. One can achieve more of an understanding of the girl when they look into her eyes in this image. I find it almost incomparable to any other art. I think that the quality and how profound and strong the image is makes it beautiful. I think that this image is beautiful past some paintings because of how real it is. Some artists paint things that do not exist or just use nice colors that make the art look pretty. On the other hand, other artists use dark colors and effort to display deep dark images. But this photograph is beautiful in the depth of its reality. It was not a made up image or a posed picture. This image encompassed the life in afghanistan for the united states when it was on the cover of National Geographic.