"But what matters most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling."

-Cambodia, 1999

"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

Steve McCurry, born in Philadelphia in 1950, travels the world searching for breath taking photo scenes, as he says the “unexpected, the moment of serendipity.” He positions a classical balance in his photos, which makes them delighting, and sometimes discomforting, expressing true emotions. Making a deeper understanding. Making you “look beneath the surface.” But McCurry didn’t at first pursue the dream of being a photographer. He aspired to be a documentary filmmaker. His career began when he passed the Pakistan border into Afghanistan, and shot the civil struggle. One of his famous pictures is of the Afghan girl, with the scorching green eyes. McCurry has a taste for letting the soul drift up into view.

“If you wait, people would forget your camera and the soul would drift up into view,” – Steve McCurry. This quote shows how he likes to let the picture come on its own. Let the feeling of it grow and fit where it needs to be.

McCurry explores the themes of war and its effect on humanity in this picture. And so that’s why this photo puts me in such a gaze, because of its heart-warming connection. The handprints are so boldly outlined, that it’s the first thing I catch a glimpse of. The hands look as if they are trying to break free. As if they are screaming. Trying to get out of the agony. I have a feeling that many people can relate to this sense of desire to shout and come out of the bars they’ve been hiding behind. And I’m wondering what’s going on behind those white sheets. What is that person trying to scream away from? What kind of conflict is happening? The flames behind the hands give me an assumption that fire might have broken out and everyone including this person is suffering and fighting for their lives. The flames are important because with out the fire, then there isn’t a point for the hands to be there in the first place. As well, Steve McCurry used excellent positioning. With the hands being press up in the front, and the flames an orange blur at the back. There’s a clear and concise connection between the hands and the fire. And with that connection, you can see that sometimes fighting fire with fire just creates an even enormous and more intense fire, in my opinion. And I think this because, usually people who are causing the conflict, only think short-term. Never long-term. They desire to win. They think about the victory, and how good it’s going to taste. They don’t think about the people who they’ve caused pain too. Just like the hands in the picture. Which shows that war does have a huge effect on the humanity.

His photos are excellent because they have made my understanding of photography even greater. I learned that sometimes you have to look beneath the surface, to truly understand what’s going on, to find the more significant meaning of the picture. To look between those nooks and crannies. And if you do look beneath and between, it can make a change because; you feel the emotion and have the feeling, to make your heart feel different. It’s touching. And that’s what Steve McCurry is great at doing. McCurry’s photos can endue and last for a long time, because there’s always another story unfolding when you look at it for a second, or even a third time. His photos tell a story, because they show the journey of daily life. They’re not some kind of fantasy land, (although he can make you feel like your in one.) they’re the real thing. There’re reality. And when he does that, it makes every picture of his a gift to gaze at.

"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