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Steve McCurry
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Portraits Hardcover – March 19, 2013

by Steve McCurry (Photographer)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 361 ratings
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In 1985, Steve McCurry photographed an Afghan girl for the National Geographic. The intensity of the subject's eyes and her compelling gaze made this one of the most widely and consistently celebrated portraits in the history of contemporary photography. This image accompanies the other remarkable faces he has encountered whilst travelling throughout the world, collected together in an engaging and moving series of unique street portraits: unposed, unstylized images of people that reveal the true universality of the depths of human emotion.

This fresh new edition, expanded to feature more photographs than before, including some never-before published, creates an up-to-date and unrivalled collection of McCurry's portraiture. Critically acclaimed and recognized internationally for his classic reportage, over the last thirty years he has worked on numerous assignments, travelling extensively throughout the Middle and Far East. A regular contributor to many international journals, McCurry is a member of Magnum Photos and a recipient of the Robert Capa Gold Medal and an unprecedented four World Press Photo first prizes in a single year; many of McCurry’s images have since become modern icons. He is most famous for his evocative color photography, which has captured stories of human experience that, in the finest documentary tradition, transcend boundaries of language and culture.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    496 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Phaidon Press
  4. Publication date
    March 19, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    5.13 x 1.38 x 7.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0714865370
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0714865379
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The global reach of the work, and the knowledge of humanity reflected in it, is breathtaking."―The Sunday Times

"McCurry's talent for catching people with their guard down is on ample display in this... Collection of faces from around the world... The images speak to the shared humanity of diverse peoples. McCurry's talent for catching people with their guard down is on ample display in this... collection of faces from around the world... the images speak to the shared humanity of diverse peoples."―Life

About the Author

Born in Philadelphia, Steve McCurry studied history and cinematography at Pennsylvania State University before working as a freelance photographer in India. His career was launched when he crossed the Pakistan border into rebel-controlled Afghanistan, just before the Russian invasion, to take the first pictures of the conflict. Since then many of McCurry's images have become modern icons.

His coverage won him the Robert Capa Gold Medal for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad, an award dedicated to photographers exhibiting exceptional courage and enterprise. McCurry has covered many areas of international and civil conflict, including the Iran-Iraq war, Beirut and the Gulf War. His travels have also taken him to South-east Asia and the spiritual temples of Angkor Wat and Cambodia, made known to many through his memorable images for National Geographic magazine.

A member of the prestigious international photo agency Magnum since 1986, McCurry is the recipient of numerous awards including Magazine Photographer of the Year, awarded by the National Press Photographers Association. This was awarded in the same year in which he won an unprecedented four first prizes in the World Press Photo Contest. He has won the Olivier Rebbot Memorial Award twice.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Phaidon Press; 2nd edition (March 19, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0714865370
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0714865379
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.94 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.13 x 1.38 x 7.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 361 ratings

About the author

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Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry

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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 on all seven 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), A Life in Pictures (2018), Animals (2019), In Search of Elsewhere (Fall 2020).

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
361 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally!
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2020
Verified Purchase
I've wanted this book for FIVE YEARS and finally treated myself... It's about the size of a paperback novel, so be aware of that, but the size variance just makes it interesting to me. Each open page is just a full portrait and a location... Minimal, striking, elegant... perfect... What an homage to McCurry's fabulous work!
2 people found this helpful
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Nice lens. I don't see any problem with it, so far.
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2024
Verified Purchase
Nothing but photos! I'm pleased... I wish I had his luts and/or presets.
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TomorrowMountain
5.0 out of 5 stars lovely book
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2015
Verified Purchase
beautiful portraits. great range of subjects and locations.

pictures are identified by subject name, location, and year (ie juan, spain, 1997) - hilarious that los angeles gets to serve as its own country (yes, i get that it's published in the usa so we're assumed to know what country la is in - but still - made me and my step-mom laugh).

i wish it were a bit bigger (individual page size larger), but that's a small issue.
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Michele McKee Harms
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2016
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Awesome book with incredible story-telling photographs. The only down fall is the print size - a larger version would have been perfection!
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James M. McCarthy
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring collection of portraits by a great photographer
Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2019
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Steve McCurry's portraits capture the humanity of his subjects in convincingly real moments. It's obvious the people he photographs trust him to reveal their truth as unique individuals.
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Michael Wellman
5.0 out of 5 stars Quintessential portrait book
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2019
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A wonderful book showing a great photographers photography of people from around the world. Simple, eloquent and beautiful.
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jane asbury
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent book & condition
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2021
Verified Purchase
excellent book in almost perfect condition.
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars This is a novel size book - make it CLEAR it is not normal size pic book!
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2018
Verified Purchase
The book itself is nice, hardcover and has many nice portraits. Here's the criticism:

1) The book is small and that is easy to MISS when ordering it (make it clear to buyers it's a tiny size book)
This needs to be pointed out in BOLD letters for all potential buyers
2) There is nothing more about each pic than country, date i.e. "pakistan, 2001" - really?!
3) The size prevents you getting a good look at the details of the images, which is the WHOLE point of buy a hardcover book so that you can enjoy it up close. This is why I absolutely cannot recommend this book.
4) The images are very similar and if you've seen one you've seen them all.

For those that like some of the Kodachromistic look McCurry goes for than you might be delighted, but it gets old fast. If you want to buy it then get one used.
9 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Cherine
5.0 out of 5 stars Portrait de Phaidon
Reviewed in France on May 11, 2023
Verified Purchase
C’est un livre magnifique et de grande qualité, offrant une expérience visuelle unique pour les amateurs d'art et de photographie. Les portraits présentés sont superbes et illustrent la diversité et la richesse de la photographie de portrait. Parmi les portraits les plus célèbres figure la fille afghane, qui est devenue une icône de la photographie. Alors que chaque page est une œuvre d'art en soi, et c'est un livre que je recommande vivement pour ceux qui cherchent à s'inspirer et à être émerveillé.
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Ingo_23
5.0 out of 5 stars Die Fotos sind von Aussage, Gestaltung und Farben mehr als großartig!
Reviewed in Germany on May 22, 2022
Verified Purchase
Manche Fotobücher sind eher langweilig. Dieses nicht. Viele großartige Portraits aus verschiedenen Ländern. Zum Beispiel Afghanistan.

Außer Ort und Aufnahmejahr gibt es keinen Text. Das ist auch nicht nötig. Eher ein Vorteil. Die Bilder sprechen für sich. Über die Länder kann ich mich in anderen Medien informieren.

Ich habe großen Respekt für die Fotografen, die durch die verschiedensten Länder reisen. Afghanistan ist ja nicht ungefährlich.

Üblicherweise kaufe ich Bücher über Fotosoftware , Fototechnik, Lichtgestaltung im Studio oder on location. Teilweise etwas unnötig, da ich eine Ausbildung als Fotograf habe. In jetzt 40Jahren habe ich Erfahrung in Portraitfotografie. Bei 2 Kodak Awards war ich unter den Gewinnern.

Dieses Buch hat sich wirklich gelohnt zu kaufen. Es gibt viel Anregung für meine Arbeit und einen Push mich weiterzuentwickeln.

Amazing!
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william ribeiro
5.0 out of 5 stars melhor livro de retratos do mundo!
Reviewed in Brazil on August 11, 2020
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30 anos de trabalho, estudo, conexões e pessoas; esse é o livro que todo fotógrafo deve conhecer!
One person found this helpful
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Liz
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente libro
Reviewed in Mexico on April 29, 2019
Verified Purchase
El libro es pequeño, tamaño media carta (aproximadamente), pero está excelente. Lo pedí para un regalo y ahora lo quiero para mi.
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shampayn
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Portraits
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
This book contains wonderful photo portraits from around the world. We already had the original version but this expanded copy introduced a new crop of fantastic shots. As artists, we find the photographs an amazing inspiration.
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