Steve McCurry

February 23, 2002 3:44 PM

Steve McCurry has spent his life looking for beauty in warzones. This flash site pulls together some of his most vivid images, including the iconic image of a young girl from Afganistan. But his work hasn't been without a few dangers: "I've had a couple of close calls in my career, but part of my brain that's concerned with self-preservation is very large. I was almost drowned in India and I was in an airplane crash in Yugoslavia, where I found myself about 10 feet underwater. Miraculously, I was able to swim out from underneath the seatbelt. But I came within a fraction of an inch of not making it. I'd rather take the risk and have the adventure, than to be timid and not take those risks ... It's the best life."
posted by feelinglistless (6 comments total)

Getting more sick of the word "iconic" than the word "miesian"
posted by Settle at 4:03 PM on February 23, 2002

oh, and seeing as I read slashdot WHOO HOO FIRST POST...imagine a beowulf cluster of photographic...never mind
posted by Settle at 4:04 PM on February 23, 2002

Christiane Amanpour on being a war correspondent.
posted by sheauga at 10:48 PM on February 23, 2002

Settle: I'm not sure what you're implying ... are your comments related to the link or my post?

Sheauga: Thanks for the article
posted by feelinglistless at 12:54 AM on February 24, 2002

Settle, not a practice we'd like to encourage here, and rather old so it's not even self-reflexively funny. capisce?

ABC had a story on the Life of a War Correspondent. There's a memorial to one journalist killed in action along with a fund to support reporters involved in this type of reporting. A great Peter Maas piece on the same incident. Ian Stewart was shot in the head and survived. Then there was Salon's trashing of a somewhat trashy view of the profession called Shutterbabe. There was a couple of years ago a very moving piece about Myles Tierney (see the Stewart incident), written anonymously by a former (female) lover. Harper's, perhaps?
posted by dhartung at 3:45 AM on February 24, 2002

PDN did a good feature on war correspondents on their print edition 2 or 3 months back. They basically went back to the legendary war photographers and asked them to reminisce and also asked the war photographers who were in Afghanistan / were trying to get into Afghanistan their impressions about war photography in Afghanistan. It was interesting and at times moving. If one can lay one's hands on it, it has great coverage on the subject.

The war photographer I hold in awe is Cappa. Many of his photographs are still classics. He led an incredibly colorful and rich life. Someone should someday make a movie ....

I always liked Steve McCurry's photographs. I didnt realize that he has done a lot of war photography. Loved his 'Portraits'. His images from around the world are always very 'humane' rather than sensational.
posted by justlooking at 10:08 AM on February 24, 2002