Photographs Bring Change

Steve McCurry, a photographer, a traveler, and a humanitarian, famous for his photograph the ‘Afghan Girl’, mainly travels through Asia, such as Burma, Afghanistan, India, and more. Steve McCurry travels around the world, capturing the feeling in the struggles and joys of life. His photos often gravitate towards people, the emotion and the experience on their faces, and the kind of condition they are in. “A good portrait is one that says something about the person. We usually see parts of ourselves in others, so the good portrait should also say something about the human condition.”

A photo which has a significant impact on me is a photo from Steve McCurry’s travels to Buddhist countries, like Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam, and such. This photo is a color portrait of a young Buddhist nun, with her hair shaved and dressed in simple, brown saffron robes. Resting on her shoulder is a red-brown paper umbrella, covering most of her dark background. Her face holds a look of great curiosity, as if contemplating the viewer. The theme seems to be the nature of a child, the need to know all that is happening around them, their innocence, and naïvety. McCurry also seems to be emphasizing the young nun’s confidence, in the way she conducts herself in the photo, staring straight out and catching the viewer’s eye. As he said, “Every time I have visited a Buddhist monastery, I have seen a playfulness among the monks, a joy in the way they conduct themselves and the way they interact with each other.” Although we, the young nun and I, are in drastically different circumstances, we both share the curiosity of happenings around us. We also share a sure air of solidarity. Lastly we have the same belief in Buddhism.

I have learned that photography is a dangerous yet interesting job, that you have to travel anywhere in the world to find things to photograph. I also found that photography has the power to bring about change, such as when we see the pain and hardship of war as well as the joys of the small things in life. For me, a great photo has to get me to pause, study the photo and think of the photo as I turn away. It needs an intriguing subject and a background that adds to it. A photo that lasts and endures time is one that draws the viewer in as they look from the subject to the background, and keeps them thinking after they turn away. My way of looking at a photo is to focus on the subject, mainly on the eyes, then the rest of the face. Then my eyes move on to the background, and I focus on that for a moment before looking at the complete photo. McCurry’s work reflects a journey through his own journey makes in his many travels and the journey his subjects undergo, their hardships and hopes. “You need to keep your heart and mind open. Life is flowing in front of your eyes and you need to be open to respond and allow yourself to be touched by things which are extraordinary and let it change you.”