Steve McCurry is a very Famous National Geographic Photographer. I doubt that there too many people on the planet who have not come across his work one time or the other. His images can be found on his website http://www.stevemccurry.com/galleries. I would really recommend that you go to the website to see the images. I have inserted some of them in this post but frankly you have to see them on his site so you can actually appreiciate the image quality and the vivid colors.
While a lot of his images are absolutely unforgettable, he is most famous for his portrait of a young Afghani girl called Sharbat Gula. It's one of my all time favorites. This portrait is so compelling. It takes my breath away. I absolutely love the haunted look of this girl, the way her eyes reflect light.
I read somewhere that he went back a couple of decades later, found Sharbat Gula and re-photographed her with her husband's permission. I saw that the photograph of that older woman and I remember thinking that maybe it would have been better not to have found it. The picture of the young girl filled me with the hope that she would have found some peace and fulfillment. The picture of that girl as a woman and mother showed me that her life continued to be hard.
All his portraits are absolutely stunning. I couldn't find a single one that did not speak to me or imbue in me a sense of wonder. I would so love to be able to capture that feeling in my portraits.
In fact, his entire website hosts a brilliant collection of images. I could find a single one that I didn't like or one that didn't appeal to me. The images are vivid and beautifully composed. I really wish I could get a better understanding of how he manages to produce consistently colorful and compelling imagery in his work.
Even his images on War were horribly mesmerizing.
Interestingly, for each one of his images, I was able to identify a single or many of the design elements that I have read about in the OCA coursework so far. That's relatively new for me. I usually can identify design elements like symmetrical or S-curves and rule of thirds but OCA work has definitely made me far more aware of design elements and the role that they play in making an image work.
Given that I couldn't possibly pick out any images that I didn't like, I have decided to pick out a few where design elements that I am reading about in the OCA coursework appear distinctly.
Implied Triangles
Steve McCurry (Date Unknown),Three Men in a niche, Kashmir; Available from: http://www.stevemccurry.com/fine-art-prints; Accessed: December 20th 2011.
Steve McCurry (Date Unknown),Men on steps, India; Available from: http://www.stevemccurry.com/fine-art-prints; Accessed: December 20th 2011.
Balance:
Steve McCurry (Date Unknown), Backstage Ballerina, Yugoslavia; Available from: http://www.stevemccurry.com/fine-art-prints; Accessed: December 20th 2011.
Curves/ Movement:
Steve McCurry (Date Unknown), Fishman on Inle Lake, Burma; Available from: http://www.stevemccurry.com/fine-art-prints; Accessed: December 20th 2011.
Patterns / Rhythm:
Steve McCurry (Date Unknown), Fishermen At Weligama, Sri Lanka; Available from: http://www.stevemccurry.com/fine-art-prints; Accessed: December 20th 2011.