Quote: "What is important to my work is the individual picture. I photograph stories on assignment, and of course they have to be put together coherently. But what matters most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling."
Steve McCurry became a full Magnum Member in 1986.
Steve McCurry
American, b. 1950

Steve McCurry was born in Philadelphia, and graduated from Pennsylvania State University. After working at a newspaper for two years, he left to freelance in India.

His career was launched when, wearing native clothing, he crossed the Pakistan border into rebel-controlled Afghanistan just before the Russian invasion. When he emerged, he had rolls of film sewn into his clothes that contained some of the world's first images of the conflict. His coverage won the Robert Capa Gold Medal for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad Showing Courage and Enterprise. He has won numerous awards including the National Press Photographers' Association award for Magazine Photographer of the Year and an unprecedented four first prizes in the World Press Photo contest.

McCurry has covered many areas of international and civil conflict, including the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, Beirut, Cambodia, the Philippines, the Gulf War and continuing coverage of Afghanistan. His work has been featured in magazines around the globe. His reportage for National Geographic has included Tibet, Afghanistan, Burma, India, Iraq, Yemen, Buddhism, and the temples of Angkor Wat.

A high point in his career was finding Sharbat Gula, the previously unidentified Afghan refugee girl, whose picture has been described as one of the most recognizable photographs in the world.

Education

Cinematography and History, Pennsylvania State University, USA

Awards

2005 Honorary Fellowship, Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain
2005 Photographic Society of America, Photojournalism Division-International
Understanding Through Photography Award
2003 International Photography Awards, Lucie Award for Photojournalism
2003 Distinguished Alumni Award, Pennsylvania State University
2003 Co-recipient of the New York Film Festival Gold for “Afghan Girl: Found” documentary
2002 Distinguished Visiting Fellow, College of Creative Studies, University of California
2002 Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, Fairleigh Dickinson University, NJ, USA
2002 Photographer of the Year, PMDA Professional Photographer Award
2002 Photographer of the Year ("American Photo")
2002 United Nations International Photographic Council: Special Recognition Award
2002 French Art Directors Association, Award of Excellence
2001 Photography Annual, Communication Arts
Award of Excellence
2000 Picture of the Year Competition
Book of the Year; Magazine Feature Picture Award of Excellence
1999 Pennsylvania State University, Lifetime Fellow Award
1998 "Life" Eisenstaedt Awards - Our World Photo Winner and Our World Essay Finalist
1998 Picture of the Year Competition, Award of Excellence
1998 SAJA, Southern Asian Journalistic Award, Outstanding Special Project
1997 Picture of the Year Competition
Magazine Feature Picture Award of Excellence
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 ("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 World Press Competition, Four First Prize First place, Nature and Nature Series;
First place, Daily Life and Daily Life Series
1985 Oliver Rebbot Award Citation ("Monsoons" and "The New Faces of Baghdad")
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

Exhibitions

2005 Face of Asia - Asia House, London, UK
2005 Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, USA
2004 Written with Light - Artopia Gallery, Miami, USA
2004 Pilgrimage - Fundación Sophia, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
2004 Boca Museum of Art, Boca Raton, USA
2004 Phil Woods Gallery, Ottawa, Canada
2004 Buddhism - New Delhi, India
2003 Pilgrimage - National Geographic Society, Washington D.C., USA
2003 The Augen Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,USA
2003 Tibet House, New York, New York, USA
2003 Face of Asia - George Eastman House, Rochester, USA
2003 Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
2003 Levering Hall, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
2002 Exhibition Leeuwarden, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2002 The Augen Gallery, Portland, USA
2002 The School of Photography, Madrid, Spain
2002 The Victor Barsokevitsch Photographic Centre, Finland
2002 Palacio dos Aciprestes, Pro Historica Associacao, Lisbon, Portugal
2002 Stenerson Museum, Oslo, Norway
2002 Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
2001 Vision Workshops, Annapolis, USA
2001 Palacio dos Aciprestes, Pro Historica Associacao, Lisbon, Portugal
2001 Radiant Light Gallery, Portland, USA

Collections

George Eastman House, New York, USA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA
Fondazione Palazzo Bricherasio, Torino, Italy
Ackland Museum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA
Houston Museum of Modern Art, Houston, USA
Tokyo Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
Palmer Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA
International Center of Photography, New York, USA

Books

2005 Steve McCurry, Phaidon Press, USA
2003 The Path to Buddha: A Tibetan Pilgrimage, Phaidon Press USA
2002 Sanctuary: The Temples of Angkor Wat, Phaidon Press, USA
2000 South Southeast, Phaidon Press, USA
1999 Portraits, Phaidon Press, USA
1988 Monsoon, Thames & Hudson, USA
1985 The Imperial Way, Houghton Mifflin, USA