This past Friday, I took my class to the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown to see the great exhibit “Unguarded, Untold, Iconic: Afghanistan through the Lens of Steve McCurry”. Visiting a museum to see a photography exhibit is one of the assignments my students have as part of the course “Living a Photographic Life”.
We never got into the Photoshop controversy and I’m glad we didn’t. Not that it’s something that shouldn’t be discussed, but I wanted the students to focus on the photographs and see if they could learn something about portraiture, composition, light, use of color (almost every picture was in color) and story telling in a good photograph – whether or not is part of a larger thematic body of work.
McCurry is a wonderful photographer and we focused on some key aspects of his work that were easy to detect with careful and contemplative viewing.
Almost all of his great portraits such as the justly famous Afghan Girl incorporate shallow depth of field. It appears that he focuses on his subject’s eyes. But within a few inches fore and aft, things are no longer critically sharp. No matter, it gives the focus of the portrait a great intensity that somehow would be otherwise missing. Additionally, many of his pictures of people are “environmental portraits”, such as a great photograph of a man standing in front of stacks of automobile tires. It’s obvious that this is how he earns his living and the image creates a story beyond the fact that it’s a great picture. Another spectacular environmental portrait is taken of a group of men in a café. Taking time to look at the photograph closely shows that behind them on the wall is a picture of New York that includes the Twin Towers. The picture was taken after the 9/11 attacks, and is remarkable not only for its composition and use of lighting but also because of the many meanings contained in it!
There are also pictures of larger outdoor scenes. In some the action is stopped completely, and others show the movement of daily life, enabled by use of a slow shutter speed. A picture that stands out contains a large street scene taken from vantage point looking down. People riding their bicycles appear to be moving, while others in the street and the majestic background beyond the main scene itself stand still in time.
Lighting is always beautiful, especially where it is used to effectively frame the main subject, or focus you in to what McCurry wants you to see.
Then there is the color. Those familiar with this website know that I am a black and white photographer and that I am not a great fan of color per se. McCurry knows how to use color and often his photographs are not only about the subject itself, but also about color. A striking photograph of a woman completely covered from head to toe in bright yellow fabric in front of a rich blue background tells you a lot about Afghan society and makes a bold and graphic visual statement at the same time.
But most importantly, each of McCurry’s exceptional photographs, while part of large body of thematic work, stand on their own for the deep and moving individual statements they make.
The exhibit runs until October 23rd. If you happen to be in or near Bucks County you owe it to your self to see it!
