Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry has been one of the most iconic voices in contemporary photography for more than 30 years, with scores of magazine and book covers, over a dozen books, and countless exhibitions around the world to his name.

Born in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; McCurry studied film at Pennsylvania State University, before going on to work for a local newspaper. After several years of freelance work, McCurry made his first of what would become many trips to India. Traveling with little more than a bag of clothes and another of film, he made his way across the subcontinent, exploring the country with his camera.

 

It was after several months of travel that he found himself crossing the border into Pakistan. There, he met a group of refugees from Afghanistan, who smuggled him across the border into their country, just as the Russian Invasion was closing the country to all western journalists. Emerging in traditional dress, with full beard and weather-worn features after weeks embedded with the Mujahedeen, McCurry brought the world the first images of the conflict in Afghanistan, putting a human face to the issue on every masthead.

 

Since then, McCurry has gone on to create stunning images over six continents and countless countries. His work spans conflicts, vanishing cultures, ancient traditions and contemporary culture alike – yet always retains the human element that made his celebrated image of the Afghan Girl such a powerful image.

 

McCurry has been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards in the industry, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal, National Press Photographers Award, and an unprecedented four first prize awards from the World Press Photo contest. The Minister of French Culture has also appointed McCurry a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters and most recently, the Royal Photographic Society in London awarded McCurry the Centenary Medal for Lifetime Achievement.

 

McCurry has published books including The Imperial Way (1985), Monsoon (1988), Portraits (1999), South Southeast (2000), Sanctuary (2002), The Path to Buddha: A Tibetan Pilgrimage (2003), Steve McCurry (2005), Looking East (2006), In the Shadow of Mountains (2007), The Unguarded Moment, (2009), The Iconic Photographs (2011), Untold: The Stories Behind the Photographs (2013), From These Hands: A Journey Along the Coffee Trail (2015), India (2015), and On Reading (2016), Afghanistan (2017).

Premi

2016 Epica Bronze Award for Valentino SS16 Campaign
2016 Lucie Award for Book Publisher of the Year, 21st Editions, Humanity, New York, NY
2016 Clio Award for Valentino SS16 (4), Rome, Italy
2016 International Award of Photography, Centro Di Ricerca E Archiviazione Della Fotografia, Spilimbergo, Pordenone, Italy
2016 Honorary Doctorate and Honorary Professorship, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, India
2014 Centenary Medal for Lifetime Achievement, Royal Photographic Society, London, England
2014 Hamdan International Photography Award, Dubai, UAE
2013 Appointed Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters, France
2012 Recipient of Humanity in the Arts Peace Award; International Committee of Artists for Peace
2012 Pictures of the Year International Book Award for The Iconic Photographs
2011 Leica Hall of Fame Award, St. Moritz, Switzerland
2011 Prix LiberPress, Girona, Spain
2009 Abrogino D’Oro, Milan, Italy
2006 Lowell Thomas GOLD
2006 National Press Photographers Association 1st Place, Buddha Rising, National Geographic, Dec.
2006 Honorary Fellowship, New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography (NZIPP)- May 4th
2005 Honorary Fellowship, The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, London
2005 Photographic Society of America Photojournalism Division-International Understanding through
2003 International Photography Awards, CA, the Lucie Award for Photojournalism
2003 Distinguished Alumni Award, Pennsylvania State University, PA
2003 Co-recipient of the NY Film Festival Gold for documentary, “Afghan Girl: Found”
2002 Distinguished Visiting Fellow, College of Creative Studies, University of California
2002 Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, Fairleigh Dickinson University, NJ
2002 Photographer of the Year, PMDA Professional Photographer Award
2002 Photographer of the Year, American Photo Magazine
2002 United Nations International Photographic Council: Special Recognition Award
In recognition of his ceaseless devotion and outstanding achievement in photography.
2002 French Art Directors Association, Award of Excellence for “Women of Afghanistan”
2001 Photography Annual, Communication Arts
Award of Excellence, Book Series, South SouthEast
2000 Picture of the Year Competition
Book of the Year, South SouthEast
Magazine Feature Picture Award of Excellence: ‘Women in Field, Yemen’
1999 Pennsylvania State University, PA, Lifetime Fellow Award
1998 Life Magazine: ‘The Eisenstaedt Awards’ – Our World Photo Winner, ‘Red Boy’
Life Magazine: ‘The Eisenstaedt Awards’ – Our World Essay Finalist, ‘India’
1998 Picture of the Year Competition, Award of Excellence, Portraits: ‘Red Boy’
1998 SAJA, Southern Asian Journalistic Award, Outstanding Special Project
National Geographic Story, India: 50 Years of Independence
SAJA, Southern Asian Journalistic Award, Outstanding Photograph: ‘Red Boy’
1997 Picture of the Year Competition
Magazine Feature Picture Award of Excellence: ‘Fishermen’
1996 Picture of the Year Competition
Magazine Feature Picture Story Award: ‘Beggar’
Magazine Feature Picture Story Award: ‘Burma: The Richest of the Poor Countries’
1994 Pennsylvania State University, Arts and Architecture Distinguished Alumni Award
1993 National Press Photographers Association, Award of Excellence for ‘Rubble of War’
1992 Oliver Rebbot Memorial Award, Overseas Press Club
Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad on Gulf War Coverage
1992 Picture of the Year Competition
Magazine Feature Picture Award of Excellence: ‘Fiery Aliens’
First Place, Magazine Science Award: ‘Camels under a Blackened Sky’
First Place, Gulf War News Story: ‘Kuwait: After the Storm’
1992 World Press Photo Competition
First Place, Nature and Environment: ‘Oil-Stricken Bird’, Kuwait
First Place, General News Stories: ‘Kuwait after the Storm’
Children’s Award: ‘Camels under a Blackened Sky’
1990 Award of Excellence, White House News Photographers Association, ‘Spanish Gypsy’
1987 Medal of Honor, Philippines, for coverage of the 1986 Philippine Revolution
1986 Oliver Rebbot Memorial Award, Overseas Press Club
Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad for work done in the Philippines
1985 Oliver Rebbot Award Citation: ‘Monsoons’ and ‘The New Faces of Baghdad’
1984 World Press Competition, Four First Prize First place, Nature and Nature Series; First place, Daily Life and Daily Life Series
1984 National Press Photographers Association: Magazine Photographer of the Year
1980 Robert Capa Gold Medal Award, for coverage of the war in Afghanistan for Time Magazine

Mostre

2018 Etherton Gallery, Tucson, Arizona, USA
2018 Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Mosca, Russia
2018 Tuttlingen Gallery, Tuttlingen, Germany
2018 Fredric Got Gallery, Paris, France
2018 Villa Bardini Peyron, Firenze, Italia
2018 Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Cina
2018 Scuderie del Castello Visconteo, Pavia, Italia
2017 WeGil, Roma, Italia
2017 Alfandega do Porto, Porto, Portogallo
2017 Museo Civico Piero della Francesca, Sansepolcro, Italia
2017 Ex Convento San Francesco d’Assisi, Siracusa, Italia
2017 Forte di Bard, Aosta, Italia
2017 The Mole Vanvitelliana, Ancona, Italia
2017 Museum Helmond/ Kunsthal, Helmond, Paesi Bassi
2017 Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia, Italia
2017 Bourse de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgio
2017 Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, Connecticut
2016 House of Lucie, Bangkok, Tailandia
2016 Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2016 Palazzo delle Arti di Napoli (PAN), Napoli, Italia
2016 Amerikahaus, Monaco, Germania
2016 Berlin Foto Biennale – Palazzo Italia, Berlino, Germania
2016 Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Palermo, Palermo, Italia
2016 Peter Fetterman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2016 Panna Maria Snezna Monastery, Nové Mesto, Repubblica Ceca
2016 Baldwin Photographic Gallery – Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
2016 Otranto Castello Aragonese, Otranto, Italia
2016 Brno City Museum, Brno, Repubblica Ceca
2016 Frederic Got Gallery, Montreal, Canada
2016 Vivacom Art Hall, Sofia, Bulgaria
2016 Mucsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, Ungheria
2016 Weltkulturerbes Völklinger Hütte, Völklinger, Germania
2016 La Venaria Reale, Torino, Italia
2016 Castelnuovo Magra, Italia
2016 Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA
2016 The Palmer Museum of Art, University Park, PA
2016 Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, NY
2016 Stephen Hoffman Galeria, Monaco, Germania
2016 Barbado Gallery, Lisbona, Portogallo
2016 Galleria Harry Bertoia, Pordenone, Italai
2016 Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong
2016 Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York, NY
2016 Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Singapore
2016 Beetles & Huxley Gallery, Londra, Regno Unito
2015 Flo Peters Gallery, Amburgo, Germania.
2015 Det Nationalhistoriske Museum, Hillerød, Danimarca
2015 Muzeum Středního Pootaví Strakonice, Strakonice
2015 Salle d’Exposition du Quai Antoine 1er, Monaco
2015 Musei San Domenico, Forli, Italia
2015 Arsenale Nord, Venezia, Italia
2015 Flo Peters Gallery, Amburgo, Germania
2015 Museo Nazionale Scienza E Tecnologia Leonardo Da Vinci, Milano, Italia
2015 220 Cultura Contemporánea, Córdoba, Argentina
2015 Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, Houghton, Sudafrica
2015 Old Town Hall, Praga, Repubblica
2015 CerModern, Ankara, Turchia
2015 Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, North Carolina, USA
2015 Patricia Conde Galeria, Città del Messico, Messico
2015 Museum für Gestaltung, Zurigo, Svizzera
2015 Leica Gallery, Varsavia, Polonia
2015 Cinecittà Studios, Roma, Italia
2014 Bait Al Zubair, Muscat, Oman
2014 CT Gallery, Megeve, Francia
2014 Loukia & Michael Zampelas Art Museum, Nicosia, Cipro
2014 Central European House of Photography, Bratislava, Slovacchia
2014 Villa d’Reale di Monza, Monza, Italia
2014 Leica Gallery, Salisburgo, Austria
2014 Anna Lamar Switzer Center at Pensacola State College, Pensacola, Florida, USA
2014 Brucie Collections, Kiev, Ucraina
2014 Theatre de la Photography et de l’Image, Nizza, Francia
2014 Alessandro Del Piero Gallery, Torino, Italia
2014 Festival La Gacilly, Francia
2014 Beetles and Huxley, Londra, Gran Bretagna
2014 Kunsthalle Erfurt, Germania
2014 Regione Umbria, Perugia, Italia
2014 Juminkeko Foundation, Kuhmo, Finlandia
2013 Santa Maria della Scala, Siena, Italia
2013 Hamburg Museum of Art, Germania
2013 Itau Foundation, Santiago, Cile
2013 Taidehalli Helsinki, Helsinki, Finlandia
2013 Fifty One Fine Art, Anversa, Belgio
2013 Chris Beetles Gallery, Londra, Gran Bretagna
2013 National Museum Kragujevac, Serbia
2013 Luova Gallery, Helsinki, Finlandia
2013 David Bloch Gallery, Marrakech, Marocco
2013 Galerie Clairefontaine, Lussemburgo
2012 Empty Quarter Gallery, Dubai, Emirati Arabi Uniti
2012 Kunstmuseum, Wolfsburg, Germania
2012 Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles, USA
2012 Oeksnehallen, Copenhagen, Danimarca
2012 Ron Cavalier Galleries, Greenwich, USA
2012 Frederic Got Gallery, Parigi, Francia
2012 Seoul Art Center, Seoul, Corea del Sud
2012 Photokina, Cologne, Germania
2012 Centro Municipal de Arte Helio Oiticica, Rio de Janerio, Brasile
2012 Palazzo Ducale, Genova, Italia
2012 Zagreb Art Pavilion, Zagabria, Croazia
2011 Museum of Contemporary Art, Roma, Italy
2011 Instituto Tomie Ohtake, San Paolo, Brasile
2011 Casal de Solleric, Majorca, Spagna
2011 Istanbul Modern, Istanbul, Turchia
2011 Amerikahaus, Monaco, Germania
2011 Centro del Conocimiento, Misiones, Argentina
2011 Gallery of Photography, Dublino, Irlanda
2010 Museo Rafaela, Rajaela, Santa Fe, Argentina
2010 Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, Perugia, Italia
2010 Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Seoul, Corea del Sud
2010 Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2010 Salo Art Museum, Finlandia
2010 Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, Gran Bretagna
2010 Roosevelt House, Nuova Delhi, India
2010 Masan Art Center, Seoul, Corea del Sud
2010 Joseph Saxton Gallery, Canton, OH, USA
2010 Islamic Arts Museum, Kuala Lumpur, Malesia
2009 Villanova University, Villanova, PA, USA
2009 Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore
2009 Polka Magazine Exhibition, Parigi, Francia
2009 Chahar Suq Cistern, Herat, Afghanistan
2009 Palazzo della Ragione, Milano, Italia
2009 History Center, Orlando, FL, USA
2009 Open Shutter Gallery, Durango, CO, USA
2009 International Festival of Photojournalism, Perpignan, Francia
2009 Palmer Museum of Art, University Park, PA, USA
2009 Cavalier Galleries, Greenwich, CT and Nantucket, MA, USA
2009 Bagh-e-Babur, Queen’s Palace, Kabul, Afghanistan
2009 Retrospective, Stadtische Gallerie, Iserlohn, Germania
2008 Friends Center Gallery, Siem Reap, Cambogia
2008 Retrospective, Stadtmuseum, Schleswig, Germania
2008 Magnum Print Room, Londra, Gran Bretagna
2008 Photo Festival, Amman, Giordania
2008 Palmer Museum of Art, State College, PA, USA
2008 Face of Asia, Sharjah, Emirati Arabi Uniti
2008 Magnum Photos 60 Years, Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Parigi, Francia
2008 Magnum Photos 60 Years, Stedelijk Museum Post CS, Amsterdam, Paesi Bassi
2007 Camera Obscura, Denver, CO, USA
2007 Path to Buddha, Southeast Museum, FL, USA
2007 India at 60, New York NY, USA
2007 Pilgrimage, Morris Museum, NJ, USA
2007 South Southeast, Rennes, Francia
2007 South Southeast, Art Center Waco, TX, USA
2007 Fahey Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2007 Tibet, International Center of Tibet, Washington DC, USA
2007 Face of Asia, Sharjah, Emirati Arabi Uniti
2006 Sojourn: Narratives of Asia, Galleria Modena Arte, Modena, Italia
2006 Lucca Photofest, Lucca, Italia
2006 Afghanistan’s Children: The Next Generation, The United Nations Lobby, New York, New York, USA
2006 First Photography Biennial, Alejandro Otero Museum, Caracas, Venezuela
2006 Hartlepool Art Gallery, Hartlepool, Gran Bretagna
2006 Face of Asia, Sir William Gray House, Hartlepool, Gran Bretagna
2006 Face of Asia, George Eastman House, Rochester, New York, USA
2006 Photo Biennial, Daegu, Corea del Sud
2006 South SouthEast, Valencia, Spagna
2006 Pilgrimage, Madrid, Spagna
2006 Cavalier Galleries, Nantucket, MA, USA
2006 Soho Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2006 Gallery Old Town San Diego, CA, USA
2005 City Arts Centre, Edimburgo, Gran Bretagna
2005 Face of Asia, Asia House, Londra, Gran Bretagna
2005 Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA, USA
2004 Written with Light” Artopia Gallery, Miami Florida, USA
2004 “Pilgrimage” Fundación Sophia, Palma de Mallorca, Spagna
2004 Boca Museum of Art, Boca Raton, Florida, USA
2004 Phil Woods Gallery, Ottawa, Canada
2003 “Buddhism”, Nuova Delhi, India
2004 Forbidden City International Photography Exhibition, Pechino, Cina
2003 “Pilgrimage”, National Geographic Society, Washington DC, USA
2003 The Augen Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
2003 Tibet House, New York, NY, USA
2003 “Face of Asia”, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY, USA
2003 Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
2003 Levering Hall, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
2002 Exhibition Leeuwarden, Amsterdam, Paesi Bassi
2002 The Augen Gallery, Portland, OR, USA
2002 The School of Photography (EFTI), Madrid, Spagna
2002 The Victor Barsokevitsch Photographic Centre, Finlandia
2002 Palacio dos Aciprestes, Pro Historica Associacao, Lisbona, Portogallo
2002 Stenerson Museum, Oslo, Norvegia
2002 Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL, USA
2001 Vision Workshops, Annapolis, MD, USA
2001 Palacio dos Aciprestes, Pro Historica Associacao, Lisbona, Portogallo
2001 Radiant Light Gallery, Portland, ME, USA

Libri Pubblicati

Steve McCurry. Una vita per immagini, Mondadori Electa, 2018
Fotografie di Steve McCurry e testi di Bonnie McCurry
Afghanistain, Taschen, 2017
On reading, Phaidon Press, 2016
Humanity: Steve McCurry, 21st Editions, 2016
McCurry, NY 11 Septembre 2001, Dupuis, 2016
Il Mondo di Steve McCurry, Mondadori Electa, 2016
India, Phaidon Press, 2015
From These Hands: A Journey Along the Coffee Trail, Phaidon Press, 2015
Deep South, Houghton-Mifflin Company, 2015
Photographs by Steve McCurry and Text byt Paul Theroux
Untold: The Stories Behind the Photographs, Phaidon Press, 2013
The Iconic Photographs, Phaidon Press, 2012
100 Photos of Steve McCurry for Press Freedom, RSF, 2012
Steve McCurry: Stern Portfolio, Stern Gruner, Jahr AG & Co., 2012
The Iconic Photographs, Phaidon Press, Limited/Signed, 2011
The Unguarded Moment, Phaidon Press, Limited, 2009
In the Shadow of Mountains, Phaidon Press Limited, 2007
Looking East, Phaidon Press Limited, 2006
Steve McCurry, Phaidon Press Limited, 2005
The Path to Buddha: A Tibetan Pilgrimage, Phaidon Press Limited, 2003
Sanctuary: The Temples of Angkor, Phaidon Press Limited, 2002
South Southeast, Phaidon Press Limited, 2000
Portraits, Phaidon Press Limited, 1999
Monsoon, Thames and Hudson, 1988
The Imperial Way, Houghton-Mifflin Company, 1985
Photographs by Steve McCurry and Text by Paul Theroux

Collezioni permanenti

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, USA
Royal Photographic Society, Bath, Gran Bretagna
University of New Brunswick, NB, Canada
Helmond Museum/ Kunsthal, Helmond, Paesi Bassi
Museum of Fine Arts, St Petersburg, FL, USA
The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania
The Elton John Collection, GA, USA
George Eastman House, NY, USA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA, USA
Fondazione Palazzo Bricherasio, Torino, Italia
Ackland Museum, University of North Carolina, USA
Houston Museum of Modern Art, TX, USA
Tokyo Museum of Modern Art, Giappone
Palmer Museum of Art, State College, PA, USA
International Center of Photography, NY, USA
Musee National d’art Moderne, Parigi, Francia
E altre numerose collezioni private