I just finished writing an article about photographing the human experience that went up on The Photoletariat this week. As I was doing my research, I came across Steve McCurry’s Blog. He’s the photographer who shot the now famous Afghan girl image back in 1984. Looking at his images got me thinking about a few things.
First, the guy is definitely no one-hit-wonder. McCurry is without a doubt one of the best people and travel shooters around and the body of work on his site is an incredible testament to his abilities as a photographer. His images brilliantly tell the stories of his subjects in such as way that we all would aspire to do as photographers. I mean, c’mon, does it get any better than this? Or this?
Secondly, he sure knows his way around a 50mm lens. He shoots circles around us with the very lens that many of us pushed aside as soon as we saved up enough money for a wide angle or a telephoto back when we bought our first cameras. His photos are a good reminder that it’s the photographer, not the gear that makes a great image. Seeing his shots makes me want to reach in my bag and pull that 50mm back out!
Lastly, it makes me wonder what the hell I’m doing sitting here in front of my computer and why I’m not out there in the world making photographs like this.
Thanks for the inspiration, Steve.