Steve McCurry is a world renowned photographer who is famous for his portrait "Afgan Girl" that he published in National Geographic. He studied theater arts at Penn State where he became interested in photography. McCurry is well known for covering armed conflicts including the Iran-Iraq War, Gulf War, and Afgan civil war.
The first image is simply devastating. It is of a boy who looks to be in deep distress and has his toy gun pointed directly at his face. The contrasting color of the black gun on the beige wooden background keeps our eyes glued on the focal point. The second image is of a coal miner smoking a cigarette. I like the color contrast of his blue work uniform against the darker backdrop. Lastly the third image is of a Afgan girl. Again he uses a brilliant color contrast to keep our eyes glued to the image. The green background combined with the models orange scarf and then yellow eyes makes for a captivating portrait.
McCurry is one of my favorite photographers because his work focuses on the human consequences of war. But he doesn't just show what war impresses on the landscape, but also on the human face. What I have taken from his style is that it is ok to get close to your subjects and fill the frame and still have a deep and telling photograph.
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