Pictura Gallery

Steve McCurry

In the Shadows of Mountains

McCurry’s Afghanistan may not be the Afghanistan we are expecting. His photographs have the capacity to erode one-dimensional assumptions about the country, allowing the land to be seen in its complexity. We are welcomed into the scene and are surprised by its beauty, even in moments of violence.

McCurry’s intimacy with a place is translated to an intimacy with the people. He is able to capture an intense gaze that draws in the viewer, however, there’s much to gain from the surrounding details as well. He manages a simplicity, or rather, a lack of excess in his composition. And yet, the images are packed with meaningful details, with economy of language. The coal miner’s fingers part for a smoke, yellow fingernails, shirt opened to the air, coal everywhere except the creases on his face. Does he scrunch his forehead the entire time he’s working? Can one smoke in the mine? Presumably not. This moment, heavy with soot, represents relief?

Along with his gifts for atmospheric conveyance, McCurry offers portraiture on a different plane. His images are often minimal but specific, and he only includes the details that matter. The nucleus of each photograph is a point of emotional resonance. It’s no accident that his photographs are seared onto our minds.

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