One of the most memorable nights that I’ve had since I moved to London was a talk given by the inspirational photojournalist Steve McCurry in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre.
I fell in love with his pictures ever since I laid eyes on the stunning but disturbing shot of ‘The Afghan Girl’. My Mom was lucky enough to stumble across a copy of this edition from 1985 last year and pounced on the copy for me. How could anyone give this away? It’s found a home nestled amongst other ‘special’ magazines piled in my bedroom in Dublin! Yes, it’s lucky that I now have a bedroom in London too for my expanding collection!
What I loved most about McCurry was his passion and his ability to connect with people in the most remote and at times, dangerous corners of the earth. In a split second he seemed to capture the essence of the subject. His camera has acted as a facilitator rather than a barrier to capturing so many moments in time.
He’s simply amazing at his work and when questioned about what lenses to use, why he asks subjects to look straight at him and his secret to a good shot, he paused and had a good think. The big reveal, and I loved this, was that he only really uses two lenses, didn’t seem at all interested in complicated set ups and simply put, ‘I just shoot and the rest happens’. It’s often the way, how do you bottle magic?