Mary Wakefield Mary Wakefield

Savage beauty

Steve McCurry, the celebrated war photographer, talks to Mary Wakefield about the ethics of making pain look pleasing

issue 07 October 2017

Could it, at times, be frustrating to have taken one of the world’s most famous photographs? Steve McCurry’s ‘Afghan Girl’ (1984) is, according to the Royal Geographic Society, the most recognised photo on the planet. You can summon it to mind in a trice: a beautiful young refugee of about 12, her head covered with a rough red shawl, stares out at the camera with those pale green eyes.

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