Steve McCurry Icons, photojournalism in Madrid: schedules, opinions

You will have seen it millions of times, photo of afghan girl with deep emerald eyes.

Es Sharbat Gluttony, one of the most iconic images of the American photojournalist Steve McCurry, which went around the world after being the cover of the National Geographic in 1985.

Until the 13 of February of 2022 you can discover it in the impressive exposure law Steve McCurry Icons, which brings together one hundred of his best snapshots in the Official College of Architects of Madrid, COAM, en Madrid.

They are street photos that move consciences and remain engraved in your memory forever.

ICONS is McCurry's first exhibition in Spain, reviews the photographer's entire career focused on people, and the pain caused by wars, but not only on the battlefield, as they also tell us about the misery of the world and hope.

What to see when visiting the McCurry Icons exhibition

Countless portraits that speak for themselves, that tell their story and move you because their eyes open ours.

The exhibition is in itself an impressive journey through the seven continents that he traveled with little more than his camera on his shoulder.

Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and China are some of the countries that served as a base to focus his objective and emphasize the reality of each society.

Photos that show us very precisely the diversity of different societies, cultures and landscapes.

"The best photo", Explain Steve McCurry, "It arises along the way, not necessarily when reaching the destination".

It is not just about understanding what the images say, but also about the feelings they transmit to us.

McCurry It manages to turn people into someone close to us who look at us and not the other way around, who question us and speak to us with the intensity and strength of their eyes.

In the exhibition you can see one hundred large photographs that have something hypnotic and that catch you because they seem to have life. They have been carried out calmly and without haste.

Many are people who McCurry he was found on the street and that they caught his attention for different reasons.

"If you know how to wait, people forget about your camera and then their soul will come to light” emphasizes the artist himself about his work in a documentary video which puts an end to the exhibition, a summary of his profession and his adventures around the world.

icons Everyone likes it, it leaves no one indifferent, but it is essential for journalists because of the keys you will discover to make a good report.

Among his recommendations is to devote yourself and get involved in what we want to tell, always trying to get to the point, to the essentials.

"If you find a story, go for it, without detours and without getting lost in the prolegomena. The main thing is to take photos without stopping."

"Being attentive, waiting for the best moment for photography and enjoying the journey is more important than the destination itself.” is how he himself summarizes his career.

The Icons exhibition in Madrid coincides in time with another copy of the exhibition in Italy in the town of Conegliano.

Who is Steve McCurry?

Steve McCurry a world reference of 20th century photojournalism, a 71-year-old American photographer, known worldwide for his photos, especially that of “The Afghan girl".

His career began in Afghanistan, although the first country he traveled to was India.

His career is linked to many international conflicts such as those in the Gulf, Iraq, Iran, Beirut or Cambodia. which he covered as a graphic chronicler, places where he also fell in love with their cultures and traditions.

He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and studied film, before working for a local newspaper.

He traveled halfway around the world with little more than a bag of clothes and rolls of film to explore the world with his camera, and his work has graced countless covers, books and exhibitions.

The highlight of his career was in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion.

He managed to cross the border camouflaged and took his graphic material on rolls of film sewn to his clothes, a work that was recognized with the Robert Capa Gold Medal.

But he has also received other prestigious awards such as the National Press Photographers Award,and the W, which he has won four times.

He currently lives in New York, where he teaches photography courses, a profession from which, as he says, it is impossible to retire.

The only stain on his career arose in 2015, when it was discovered that some photos exhibited in Turin had been digitally retouched, a fact that caused a bitter controversy still unresolved.

Portrait photographs on display Steve McCurry Icons

The Steve McCurry Icons exhibition presents a gallery tour in several directions, in which you can go forward and back in case you want to get back into the images.

All in an intimate and secluded environment so that you can stay in front of the photographs and enjoy them calmly.

The exhibition does not have an established order, it is not a chronological or geographical tour, and the photographs are grouped in the same temporal space.

As soon as you enter you are surprised by several portraits that plunge you suddenly into the scene.

Among them, the nomad Kuchi, photographed on the streets of Sriganar, Kashmir herding their camels, next to a miner who has just left his shift at Pol-e-Khomori, in Afghanistan, or a man with somewhat blurry glasses, who has just had cataract surgery.

La photo of the shepherd of the Rabari tribe is the cover of this exhibition: their strength and the reddish and orange colors of their white beards dyed with henna stand out.

But you will not only find portraits during this trip, the exhibition covers corners of the world and key moments in history: from the attack on New York Twin Towers, the chaotic Calles de la India or the horror of Fukushima tsunami.

The image of a sad cormorant dyed black swimming in a sea of ​​viscous oil has become more than famous as an environmental icon. It was taken during the worst environmental catastrophe of the 20th century in Saudi Arabia, during the Gulf War.

McCurry He has always wanted to tell stories and be a witness to what was happening. On September 11, for example, he knew that he would remain forever in memory, and that is why he took to the streets to document the horror.

It also focuses on places that are in transition, or that show us what we were like or our time in the world. Here we find images of many ethnicities and cultures full of color.

El Taj Mahal It is the most photographed monument in India, but in this image we see it from another perspective. The man you see in the middle is not posing, but rather looking for his keys.

The last photo you will find in the exhibition is that of the actor Robert de Niro, McCurry's most iconic New York character, and whom he photographed in his studio.

The looks of childhood

Portraits of children are his specialty, but not the ones we normally know.

They are not usually laughing, they are the looks of those who have lost their childhood, of the pain, fatigue and horror that many minors suffer in the world, and that we prefer not to see.

Very crude images that make you shudder because of their harshness, like that of a group of children swinging on a tank in Beirut, or a little boy holding a gun to his temple. Many are child soldiers.

What happened to Sharbat Gula?

The image of sherbat went around the world, as it was the cover of the National Geographic in 1985.

Four decades later it continues to be a symbol for refugees. McCurry He is very grateful for what it has given him and for how it has been valued by the general public.

When she took the photograph, the girl was 12 years old, she had never faced a target. She was immortalized in a school in a refugee camp in Pakistan, where she for a minute McCurry took about 10 photos.

Your editor of National Geographic At first they preferred another image in which the girl covered her face, but finally they published the one we all know.

It first appeared on the cover of the prestigious magazine, but it was also used on posters and calendars of Amnesty International.

She was anonymous for a long time, but 17 years later, in 2002, the magazine located her and she was able to be portrayed again as an adult.

sherbat He didn't know the impact his photo had had, nor the international mobilization it unleashed.

Now she is a widow, mother of four children, she is 49 years old and after the Taliban took over last summer, she was able to flee to Italy thanks to the asylum and evacuation program.

Steve McCurry Icons exhibition hours in Madrid

You can enjoy icons until February 13, 2022 in the Official College of Architects of Madrid, COAM, Hortaleza Street, 63, from Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00:21.00 a.m. to XNUMX:XNUMX p.m., with the exhibition closing on Mondays.

Last access is one hour before closing.

The Steve McCurry Icons exhibition ticket prices The general price is 10 euros; children from 4 to 12 years old, 5 euros, with free entry for children under 3 years old, and a management cost of 1,50 euros per entry.