Steve McCurry – Photographs from the East

In pictures of incredible intensity and beauty Steve McCurry records major changes in our world. The American achieved fame in 1979 when, disguised as one of the mujahideen, he smuggled the first pictures out of occupied Afghanistan. Several years later, in a refugee camp in Pakistan he took his most famous photograph, the picture of the green-eyed Afghan girl that has since become an icon. McCurry’s fondness for Asia has remained unaltered since these first visits. For him the contrast to western culture lies in public space and the way day-to-day and religious life are melded. His cosmos of powerful and colorful images tells us about vanishing cultures and reports on the effects of globalization. Using previously unpublished works, films and interviews the exhibition presents one of today’s most influential reporter photographers.