Topic 1: Photographer of the Week
Steve McCurry
Steve McCurry was born near Philadelphia in 1950 and studied film at Penn State University. He worked for a newspaper for two years and decided to leave there to freelance in India, which is where he learned to wait. He later said, “If you wait, people will forget your camera and the soul will drift up into view," according to National Geographic. As a photographer for over thirty years, he has published more than a dozen books and had many of his photos appear on magazine and book covers seen around the world.
His photos are incredibly composed, and his subjects are captured in vivid colors. Each photograph is like a piece of fine art. His view that “what matters is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling” definitely translates into well-executed shots.
His claim to fame is “Afghan Girl” which appeared on the the cover of National Geographic in June of 1985, and it is now known as perhaps one of the most iconic photos of all time. The photo of the Afghan refugee girl was taken at the Nasir Bagh refugee camp on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. At the time of the shot, McCurry did not know her name, but he searched for her 17 years later and found her, Sharbat Gula, in 2002. The famous shot is a haunting close-up of the orphan, who stares into the camera with her intense green eyes.
Topic 2: Lynsey Addario
“It’s What I Do” is intriguing so far. She seems to write with such ease as she brings readers right into the middle of the action with such vivid imagery, both with words and photos. She then retreats and reveals her thoughts about her personal and professional experiences. It is so impressive that she threw herself into a whole new world at such a young age with such ambition, curiosity, and courage, and that she later used her experiences, photos, and gained wisdom to contribute to a larger understanding about places that most of us will never see. Her images capture the “on the ground” look of what’s going on in these areas of conflict, illustrating the stark reality surrounding her. The lesson to take from her photos is to try to capture the “truth” of the situations being shot, which may not always be the “frame” you’re trying to get.
When she writes about “an idealistic belief that a photograph might affect people’s souls; the thrill of creating art and contributing to the world’s database of knowledge” that really stood out to me because photography is my favorite type of art, and since I left my profession as a therapist, I have not found a way to contribute to the world. It struck me that photojournalism is a way to create art as well as possibly affect people and contribute to the world. The photo of Kahindo at home with her two children born out of rape in eastern Congo is my favorite photo in the book because Lynsey not only captured the faces and plight of the subjects, but also achieved the composition and light that enhances the artistic quality of the image. It left me wondering what Kahindo was thinking as she held her baby and stared out the window….
His claim to fame is “Afghan Girl” which appeared on the the cover of National Geographic in June of 1985, and it is now known as perhaps one of the most iconic photos of all time. The photo of the Afghan refugee girl was taken at the Nasir Bagh refugee camp on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. At the time of the shot, McCurry did not know her name, but he searched for her 17 years later and found her, Sharbat Gula, in 2002. The famous shot is a haunting close-up of the orphan, who stares into the camera with her intense green eyes.
Topic 2: Lynsey Addario
“It’s What I Do” is intriguing so far. She seems to write with such ease as she brings readers right into the middle of the action with such vivid imagery, both with words and photos. She then retreats and reveals her thoughts about her personal and professional experiences. It is so impressive that she threw herself into a whole new world at such a young age with such ambition, curiosity, and courage, and that she later used her experiences, photos, and gained wisdom to contribute to a larger understanding about places that most of us will never see. Her images capture the “on the ground” look of what’s going on in these areas of conflict, illustrating the stark reality surrounding her. The lesson to take from her photos is to try to capture the “truth” of the situations being shot, which may not always be the “frame” you’re trying to get.
When she writes about “an idealistic belief that a photograph might affect people’s souls; the thrill of creating art and contributing to the world’s database of knowledge” that really stood out to me because photography is my favorite type of art, and since I left my profession as a therapist, I have not found a way to contribute to the world. It struck me that photojournalism is a way to create art as well as possibly affect people and contribute to the world. The photo of Kahindo at home with her two children born out of rape in eastern Congo is my favorite photo in the book because Lynsey not only captured the faces and plight of the subjects, but also achieved the composition and light that enhances the artistic quality of the image. It left me wondering what Kahindo was thinking as she held her baby and stared out the window….
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