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Press Release

STEVE MCCURRY
Photographs

May 3, 2007 through June 23, 2007
Opening Reception, Thursday, May 3, 7 - 9 p.m.

The Fahey/Klein Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition by photojournalist Steve McCurry. This show presents McCurry's photographic work from exotic and remote locations throughout the world such as Beirut, Cambodia, Afghanistan, India, Sri Lanka, Tibet and the Philippines. In the tradition of straight documentary photography, he has created evocative color images and stunning portraits. McCurry's candid images capture the essence of humanity, while evoking a sense of place in each vibrant photograph.

"Most of my photos are grounded in people…I look for the unguarded moment, the essential soul peeking out, experience etched on a person's face. I try to convey what it is like to be that person-a person caught in a broader landscape that I guess you would call the human condition" (National Geographic, 2006).

In the early 1980s, Steve McCurry disguised himself in native attire in order to gain entry into Afghanistan just before the Russian invasion. McCurry witnessed and documented the heightened political tensions and adverse social conditions in Afghanistan, thus bringing awareness of the situation to the public arena. Provocative and moving, McCurry's photographs not only shed light on the impact of changing social climates throughout the world, but also capture the joy, pain and inherent sense of humanity that emanates from each photograph. His well-known and haunting photograph of the "Afghan Girl" (Sharbat Gula) with her piercing green eyes personifies the intensity of her life as an Afghan refugee. This photograph has gained increased international attention since it was printed on the cover of National Geographic in 1985. He re-photographed Gula for National Geographic 17 years later.

Steve McCurry was born in Philadelphia and graduated from the College of Arts and Architecture at Pennsylvania State University. He has received many of photojournalism's highest awards including the Robert Capa Gold Medal for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad, the American Photo Photographer of the Year Award and has received Honors from the United Nations Photographic Council. McCurry has been a member of Magnum since 1986 and his photographs have been featured in National Geographic, Time, and Newsweek. His work has also been exhibited at the New York Historical Society, the National Gallery of Modern Art in India, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the International Center of Photography, and the United Nations Gallery. His most recent publications by Phaidon Press include Looking East (2006), Steve McCurry (2005) and The Path to Buddha: A Tibetan Pilgrimage (2003). When not on assignment, McCurry hosts numerous photography workshops as well as lectures all over the world.