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SINGAPORE : He’s best known for the photo of Afghan girl refugee which was featured on the June 1985 cover of National Geographic magazine, but photographer Steve McCurry has uncovered many more facets of Asia in his 30-year period working in the region.
And now the American photojournalist is back to hold his first solo exhibition in Singapore called "The Unguarded Moment". The exhibition at the Asian Civilisations Museum, is part of the Month of Photography Asia, a photography festival that wants to engage Asia.
McCurry, who is now based in New York, said he was struck by the beauty of the museum and the exhibitions curated that he thought it would be the “perfect place” for him to hold his exhibition.
The exhibition would, of course, feature the famous “Afghan Girl” photograph, which McCurry is most proud of.
“I am very happy and proud to be associated with this picture,” he said. “I think whether I am always remembered for only this one picture or my ten books or whatever, I think you have to be happy that people respond to your work in a positive way. And if I am only remembered in my obituary for that one picture then I think it’s better than not being remembered at all.”
Though the 1984 photograph was named as "the most recognised photograph" in the history of the magazine, the identity of “Afghan Girl" remained unknown for over 17 years. It was only after a long search by McCurry and a National Geographic team that they managed to locate “Afghan Girl”, Sharbat Gula, in a remote region of Afghanistan in 2002.
Though she was only around 30 years old then, McCurry told Channel NewsAsia that he was surprised at how much she had aged. Nevertheless, he recognised Sharbat instantly and had no doubt that she was the one. The tell-tale sign: her eyes.
The National Geographic went to great lengths to prove scientifically that Sharbat was the right girl and her identity was confirmed using biometric technology.
“Her eyes are very rare in Afghanistan and through that analysis, the chance that it being somebody else was one in ten billion,” said McCurry. And the photographer thinks that it is those same piercing sea-green eyes that caught the world’s attention 24 years ago.
“They have this mystery and ambiguous quality and the people often think that she has sort of a haunted look,” he said. “So you had this pretty little girl but yet you have this incredible set of eyes which look a little troubled, but you’re not quite sure. It’s all a bit of a mystery I think which adds to the allure of the picture.”
Despite travelling and working in Asia for the past 30 years, the continent never ceases to fascinate McCurry.
“There’s this multicultural dimension here that you just don’t have in other parts of the world… There’s all these incredible mix of cultures and geography, I think there’s no other part of the world that has the range that you have here in Asia.”
He added, “Being an outsider, a foreigner, you do come in with a new perspective, a new set of eyes, and you are more fascinated by things that are foreign. And there’s an excitement about going to new places, seeing new things so I never get tired of coming to this part of the world. I could be here for the next three lifetimes!”
You can catch “The Unguarded Moment” by Steve McCurry at the Asian Civilisations Museum till July 19. More details on the Month of Photography Asia 2009 are available at www.mopasia.com.sg.
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