30 Years Later, 'Afghan Girl' National Geographic Cover Still Resonates
Retrospective of Steve McCurry's work wraps up this weekend in Italy.
The man responsible for the famous National Geographic June 1985 cover image of a 12-year-old Afghan girl looking out from a Pakistani refugee camp with piercing green eyes continues to enjoy a fringe benefit. Photographer Steve McCurry recently told CNN that the taxi ride is always free whenever an Afghan driver learns he was the man who took the shot.
A major retrospective of McCurry’s work is wrapping up this weekend in Monza, Italy. The cover photo, taken in late 1984, speaks to the power of a single image in the pre-Instagram, pre-Web, pre-digital era:
When McCurry reflects upon the photo’s popularity, what excites him most is the impact that this single image has had on the real world.
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