In the Shadow of Mountains

by Steve McCurry, Kerry William Purcell

McCurry’s photographs eloquently illustrate a country of contradictions, where the contemporary battles with the ancient and the spiritual clashes with the secular. Striking portraits of men and women, are presented alongside timeless images of children at play and shepherds tending their flocks and ancient sandstone cities are contrasted with shanty-towns constructed from tattered tarpaulins. The famous mountainous landscapes and ancient temples are shown together with scenes of daily life, such as a bread seller at his kiosk or traders at a market. McCurry’s unique ability to cross boundaries of language and culture to capture stories of human experience is fully exhibited in this remarkable new collection of images.

Genres: Photography, Travel, Art

152 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2007

About the author

Steve McCurry is an American photographer, freelancer, and photojournalist. His photo Afghan Girl, of a girl with piercing green eyes, has appeared on the cover of National Geographic several times. McCurry has photographed many assignments for National Geographic and has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1986.
McCurry is the recipient of numerous awards, including Magazine Photographer of the Year, awarded by the National Press Photographers Association; the Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal; and two first-place prizes in the World Press Photo contest (1985 and 1992).

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book, beautiful photography, all focused on Afghanistan. A good number (maybe even most?) of the photos duplicate what you might find in other Steve McCurry compilations (I'm thinking of my oversized "Iconic Photographs" and my miniature "Portraits" -- happily, the size of this book is just right). That redundancy doesn't matter much to me, though; it's lovely to have them all together here, showing the relationship this photographer has had with the country over the last thirty years. Heartwarming and heartbreaking in turn.