Steve McCurry Steve McCurry. Photographer Steve McCurry Indesit found out how household responsibilities are distributed in Russia and Europe

Steve McCurry(English) Steve McCurry, R. 1950) - contemporary American photographer, photojournalist, editor. His photograph became widely known "Afghan Girl".

Biography, creativity

Steve McCurry born February 24, 1950 in Philadelphia, USA. He graduated magna cum laude from Pennsylvania State University in 1974 with a degree in theater arts. McCurry took his first photographs for the university newspaper, The Daily Collegian.

After graduating from university, Steve McCurry spent some time taking photographs for the small newspaper Today's Post in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, after which he left for India, where he worked as a freelance photographer.

Shortly before the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, Steve McCurry, together with journalist Debra Denker, dressed in inconspicuous clothes, illegally crossed the border into Pakistan in a zone that was at that time controlled by the rebels. Later, when he left the war zone, he had to sew the footage into his clothes. Subsequently, his photographs were published in magazines such as The New York Times, TIME and Paris Match. In addition, for his work, the photographer was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal (award in the field of photojournalism) for the best photo report from abroad.

In subsequent years, McCurry continued to cover armed conflicts. Among others, he worked during the Iran-Iraq War, the Lebanese Civil War, the Cambodian Islamic Insurgency Civil War in the Philippines, the Gulf War, and the Afghan Civil War. His photographs were often published in National Geographic magazine. Steve McCurry has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1986.

In 2001, Steve McCurry's work was exhibited at the Leo Burnett International Art Exhibition with Italian artist Umberto Pettinicchio in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 2003, the documentary film "The Face of the Human Condition" was released, directed by Denis Delistrak about the life and work of McCurry.

In 2005, Steve McCurry stopped using film. He explained his decision by saying that digital media is much more convenient in the field and, more importantly, photographs can always be sent outside the “danger zone.” In an interview with The Guardian, the photographer said: "Old habits may be hard to break, but my experience is that most of my colleagues, regardless of their age, have switched to digital... The quality has never been better. Plus, now I can , for example, working in extremely low light conditions." However, in June 2010, McCurry took part in a Kodak promotion: the photographer was asked to use the latest Kodachrome film, the production of which had already been suspended at that time. The photographs taken as part of this project were posted publicly on the Internet by Vanity Fair magazine.

In May 2013, McCurry worked on photographs for the Pirelli 2013 Rio de Janeiro calendar.

In 2016, Steve McCurry found himself at the center of a scandal related to the fact that some of his photographs were edited in various editors (for example, the photograph "Afghan Girl" was cropped for use on the cover). McCurry himself, however, reacted quite calmly to the accusations, saying that he does not consider himself a photojournalist, but rather a visual storyteller, who, however, does not lie to his audience, because The changes made do not affect the veracity of the image. The scandal once again raised a number of theoretical questions related to the impossibility of depicting truth in photography.

"Afghan Girl"

Steve McCurry took his most famous photograph in December 1984. The photo, which became known as the Afghan Girl, was taken in a Pashtun refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan. In June 1985, she appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine and was later voted "the most famous photograph" in the magazine's history by USA Today. A number of publications (including National Geographic itself and American Photo) call this photograph the “Afghan Mona Lisa.”

Steve McCurry tried several times to find the girl he photographed, but only succeeded in January 2002. As it turned out, her name Sharbat Gula and in 1984 she was about 13 years old (Gula herself does not know exactly her age). She ended up in a refugee camp after her parents were killed in a Soviet helicopter attack on their village.

The photo was taken on Kodachrome color film using a Nikon FM2 camera with a Nikkor 2.5/105 lens (105 mm focal length) without additional lighting. It is curious that when taking this photograph, McCurry considered himself particularly lucky that he was able to capture the face of an Afghan woman, which is usually covered by a burqa. Sharbat Gula herself did not know about her fame until 2002 and saw the photograph only in 2003.

Steve McCurry is one of the most talented photographers. His portrait of a 12-year-old Afghan girl was named the most recognizable in the history of National Geographic magazine. His works tell stories, and therefore they can be found on the pages of the largest publications.Steve McCurry has taken over a million photographs over 35 years.

Biography

The most important thing is to be extremely attentive to the person, serious and consistent in your intentions, then the photo will be the most sincere. I really like watching people. It seems to me that a person's face can sometimes tell a lot. Each of my photographs is not just an episode from life, it is its quintessence, its whole story.

Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry (Steve McCurry) was born in 1950 in Philadelphia. He became interested in photography while studying at the University of Pennsylvania in the cinematography department, and the student newspaper The Daily Collegian eagerly published photographs of the young amateur photographer. In 1974, he graduated with honors from the university, received a diploma in Theater Arts and... got a job as a photographer for a local newspaper. A more than prestigious education did little to help Steve in the profession of photojournalist; he worked his way to the top of his craft by trial and error, trying to learn as much as possible from his predecessors. “Creativity played a big role in my development as a photographer,” he recalled, “In addition, I carefully studied the books of such masters as Dorothea Lang and Walker Evans.”

The young man could not sit still: the quiet, uneventful everyday life of his native country in the mid-1970s seemed boring and banal to him - and for the most part they were. In 1978, having saved some money, Steve bought 300 rolls of film and went to India. This was a real test: he had no financial support, spent the night in the cheapest hotels, was malnourished, and often risked not only his health, but also his life.

In 1979, still in the status of a “free artist” or, in other words, a private citizen, he went to Afghanistan with the aim of reporting on the clash between rebel groups and government troops. “I was very worried: after all, I had to illegally cross the border and end up in a combat zone,” he said, “But I pulled myself together and went. I spent two weeks on the front line. And when the time came to return, I had to be nervous again - I was afraid that my films would be confiscated at the border.” At great risk, he sewed films into his turban, socks and even underwear, and returned to Pakistan. Several photographs appeared on the pages of The New York Times, but they did not attract much attention - events in the small Asian country were of little interest to anyone at that time.

A few months after the events described, the Soviet-Afghan war began and the situation changed radically: the fate of yesterday’s unwanted people interested not only political figures, but also the “average American housewife.” And then it turned out that not one of the Western agencies had current photographs from Afghanistan. “Suddenly, the leading magazines around the world - Paris Match, Stern, Time, Newsweek and LIFE - began publishing my photographs,” McCurry recalled, “I was soon hired by Time; after working there for a few months, I moved to National Geographic.”

Since then, he has visited Afghanistan several times, often risking his life: “... My trace was lost in 1980 and 1988 in Afghanistan. They thought I was dead,” he said in an interview. In 1992, he once again came to Kabul, which at that time was under the rule of the Taliban. At two o'clock in the morning, armed people burst into the hotel where he was staying (by the way, he was the only guest). Hearing a knock McCurry opened the door and locked himself in the bathroom. Uninvited guests searched the room and stole all valuables. “Fortunately, the equipment, money and documents were not found, I hid them in a safe place,” the photographer shared his joy.

But to this we must add problems with transporting equipment and materials across the border, the reluctance of many photographed to serve as models for foreigners, the natural embitterment of people in conflict zones, the desire of those in power to “not wash dirty linen in public,” and so on and so forth. But who knows what other problems may arise in an unfamiliar country for a person who, in the apt expression of Elliott Erwitt, is “armed only with hopes and ambitions”? In the immediate vicinity of him there were machine gun bursts, bombs fell, mortar shells exploded, he got into a plane crash, they beat him, they tried to drown him, he was taken hostage... There are too many situations in which Steve McCurry was between life and death to mention them to tell in a short article, he is fully worthy of becoming the hero of an adventure novel - it remains up to the writer.

In an interview, McCurry said he didn't feel like a celebrity because "people usually recognize a photograph, not the author." However, since the mid-1980s he was already well known, he no longer had to go hungry and sleep in the slums. Some of his works - especially the portrait of Sharbat Gula, which will be discussed below - have become world-famous photo icons. In 1986, he became a candidate member of the famous photo agency Magnum Photos, and in 1991 - its full member. And he was not at all lost among the brilliant line of photographers and journalists of the agency! He received many prestigious awards both in his homeland and far beyond its borders, and was recognized several times as “Best Photojournalist of the Year” by various magazines and associations. Among other things, he received the highest award for a war photographer - the Robert Capa Gold Medal for "the best photographic report from abroad, requiring exceptional courage and initiative."

Steve McCurry published his first book, The Imperial Way, in 1985. It was followed by Monsoon (1988), Portraits (1999), South Southeast (2000), and Sanctuary (2002). , “The Path to Buddha: A Tibetan Pilgrimage” (2003), “Steve McCurry” (2005), “Looking East” (2006) , “In the Shadow of Mountains” (2007). The latest photo album, “The Unguarded Moment,” was released in 2009.

Steve McCurry has the amazing ability to always (at least, much more often than follows from the theory of probability) be in the right place at the right time. He is surprisingly lucky - although it should be remembered that luck for a photojournalist usually comes from the misfortunes of other people or even entire nations. We have already seen how the Soviet attack on Afghanistan affected his career. But the “main success” awaited the photojournalist at home.

Steve McCurry spent the entire month of August 2001 in Asia and returned to New York only on September 10th. The next day he woke up very early and felt groggy - jet lag was taking its toll. Later, his assistant’s mother called him: “Look out the window,” she shouted into the phone, “the World Trade Center is burning.” “At first I didn’t believe my eyes,” the photographer recalled, “But in the next moment I grabbed my bag with the equipment and rushed to the roof of the house.” After shooting several films, he realized that he needed to try to get closer. He had no opportunity to obtain permission to film, so he had to spend most of his time hiding from government officials - fortunately, he had plenty of experience in illegal work. McCurry reached Ground Zero around noon and filmed until he ran out of film. But even then I couldn’t bring myself to leave, I looked around, probably “took pictures without a camera,” trying to remember everything that was happening around me. In the end, fatigue took its toll and Steve McCurry went home, beginning to realize that this was, in all likelihood, the most important day of his life.

I was so busy telling the story of McCurry's adventures as a journalist that I said almost nothing about his photography habits.

First, let's look in his bag: 3-4 professional Nikon film cameras and 6-7 fast lenses (fixes) with different focal lengths. He carries a tripod and a flash with him, but does not use them often. He tries to have as much spare film as possible and uses it sparingly - there were days when the number of videos shot was measured in dozens. The photographer considers the most necessary parts of his equipment to be a Swiss Army knife and a set of Leatherman tools, which have helped him out more than once in difficult situations.

Steve McCurry shoots exclusively on color film: “This decision was largely dictated by the market,” he admits. But it’s not just that, because “color is another dimension.” McCurry believes that a good color photograph should remain good even in black and white: “I don’t want my photographs to stand only in the light.” Does he succeed? I invite the reader to independently experiment with converting his photographs into black and white format, although it seems to me that many of them, together with color, lose some of their attractiveness. This fully applies to McCurry’s most famous photograph, “Afghan Girl,” a story about which I saved for last.

Steve McCurry has many wonderful photographs and is rightfully considered one of the best photojournalists of our time. Everything is in order with his artistic taste; some of his works can serve (and serve) as decoration for the most demanding art museum. However, many photography enthusiasts know him as the author of one single photograph.

There is nothing unusual in this: a photographer is often remembered by one photograph, like an actor by one role, a writer by one book, an artist by one painting. Few people know that Malevich’s brush produced anything other than “Black Square,” and Conan Doyle came up with more than just Sherlock Holmes. There are also more curious cases: the ardent opponent of the death penalty, Dr. Guillotin, is remembered as the man who gave his name to the decapitation machine. And who cares now that he proposed it as an alternative to more cruel methods of execution (burning at the stake, hanging, quartering).

But let's get back to photography. At the end of 1984, Steve McCurry ended up in the Nazir Bagh Afghan refugee camp near Peshawar (Pakistan). He was allowed to take photographs at school, including in the girls' class. Later he recalled that he noticed her immediately, but, sensing her embarrassment and confusion, he approached her last. The girl allowed herself to be photographed, which he did not fail to take advantage of. It never occurred to him to write down or even ask her name; for him she was one of thousands of children of the war: “I didn’t think that this photograph would be any different from many other photographs that I took that day,” the photographer admitted later.

But she was different. In June 1985, the photograph appeared on the cover of National Geographic and immediately became a symbol of the Afghan people's struggle for independence. In the 20-odd years since its first publication, “Afghan Girl” has become one of the most recognizable photographic images of the era. The photograph was replicated by other magazines, appeared on postcards and posters, on the backs of peace activists in the form of a tattoo, and so on and so forth. She was included in the top 100 photographs by the National Geographic Society of the United States, and in the late 1990s she appeared on the cover of the National Geographic collection of selected photographs. In 2005, the cover of "Afghan Girl" was named one of the top ten "Best Magazine Covers of the Last 40 Years."

“I think that many people like the photograph of the Afghan girl due to the combination of several components,” its creator shared his understanding of the reason for the popularity of the photograph, “Firstly, she is very beautiful. Secondly, her gaze is captivating, it simultaneously feels excitement and determination, steadfastness, and dignity shines through her entire appearance. She is poor, but in this poverty there is a feeling of genuine nobility. Dress her in Western fashion and she will look like most members of our society."

All this is true, of course, but there are not so few girls who fit this description, including in other photographs Steve McCurry. Meanwhile, the impact of "Afghan Girl" on the viewer is unique; It seems to me that it cannot be explained in words; the best that can be done here is to refer to the mysterious “power of art.”

For a long time, the fate of the heroine of the photo remained unknown. The photographer himself returned to Afghanistan about twenty times, but if he tried to find her, he was unsuccessful. Finally, in January 2002, seventeen years after the famous photograph was first published, the administration of National Geographic organized an expedition to find the “girl with green eyes.” They showed the photo to locals in the area of ​​the still active Nazir Bagh refugee camp, where McCurry took the famous photo. Someone recognized the girl in the photo, but hope in the photographer’s heart gave way to disappointment after meeting the supposed “model.” But, in the end, luck smiled on them - one of the local residents recognized her and promised to bring her to the camp. It took three days - she lived in the mountains near the Tora Bora caves, which for a long time served as a shelter for terrorist groups led by Osama bin Laden. Apparently McCurry didn’t have much hope for luck, but when the young woman entered the room, one glance was enough for him to understand: it was her.

The young woman's name was Sharbat Gula (translated from Afghan - “Flower Nectar”). At the time of the second meeting with McCurry, she was between 28 and 31 years old, in any case, no one could determine her age more precisely - not even herself. At the very beginning of the war, her parents died under Soviet bombs, and for several weeks she, as part of a small group of refugees, made her way to Pakistan - through snow-covered mountains, without warm clothes, hungry, hiding in caves from air raids. In 1984, Sharbat ended up in the Nazir Bagh camp, where McCurry met her. Simple arithmetic shows that she was between 11 and 14 years old, although she looks older. The woman remembers this day well: then she was photographed for the first time in her life. Soon after, she married and gave birth to four daughters, one of whom died in infancy. They do not live richly - Sharbat's husband works in a bakery, earning less than one dollar a day! Has she ever been happy? This seems very doubtful, her life was very difficult.

It seems quite reasonable to assume that the main, if not the only reason why they agreed to meet the photographer and his companions was the hope of somehow improving their well-being and educating their children. Their hopes were at least partially justified: “When we started the search there was no talk about money for herself or her family,” the photographer said, “However, we provided her husband and children with the necessary medical care. I bought a sewing machine at her request because she wanted her daughter to learn a craft. But there was nothing like payment for photographs. However, I think we made it clear to her that we were going to take certain steps that would change her life for the better.” Of course, a sewing machine doesn't compare to National Geographic's income from selling the Afghan Girl image, but for a family living on a dollar a day, that's a fortune.

Sharbat Gula did not express any particular admiration for the famous photograph; moreover, it was absolutely incomprehensible to her what these strangers could find in it. She was very upset by the fact that someone saw her in a shawl with holes in it. “She still remembers the day when she accidentally burned a hole above the stove,” said a representative of the magazine.

During their second meeting, the photographer was allowed to take several more photographs of Sharbat, which were published in National Geographic and then circulated in many publications around the world. In one of the photographs, with her face open, she tried to take the same pose as seventeen years ago, in the other - this time in a burqa - she is holding her famous photograph in her hands. It must be assumed that the photo shoot was not easy for her, because she had to pose in front of a stranger, show him her face, talk to him... Of course, all this in the presence of her husband and brother, for whom this event was also not an easy test.

Finally, I note that the question of a possible mistake has been raised several times in the press: they say that the women in the photographs have very different upper lips, noses, facial proportions, and eye sizes. However, the photographer is confident that he was not mistaken: “I don’t need any scientific evidence - I already see that this is the same girl I photographed in 1984,” he stated, “To be sure, look carefully at her a scar on the bridge of her nose, moles that don’t change with age, and her own memories of what happened that morning in 1984 must be taken into account.”

And one more thing: no need to idealize Steve McCurry As much as he sympathizes with the people of Asia, he is first and foremost an American and supports his government's policies: “Not 100 percent, but basically I agree,” he answers when asked about his agreement with US policy in Afghanistan, “War - this is not a way to solve the problem. But I believe that we must do our best and destroy these people(Emphasis added - A.V.). Of course, care must be taken to ensure that civilians are not harmed. ... I want to go to Afghanistan again, but after the Taliban.”

It would be appropriate to note here that Sharbat Gula belongs to the warlike Afghan tribe of Pashtuns, from whom the backbone of the Taliban movement was formed at one time. Both she and her family are sure: the Taliban are much better than the Russians or Americans, because “there was more order under them, and there were no bombings.”

Which one is right: a world-famous photographer or an illiterate Afghan woman, even with beautiful green eyes? Maybe you (like me) don’t have a definite answer to this question, but it’s still great that there are photographs that make you think about it.

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I recently had the unique opportunity to meet world-renowned photographer Steve McCurry. You are most likely familiar with his most famous photograph, “Afghan Girl,” in which he captured a green-eyed girl wearing a red headscarf. So, thanks to the efforts of one of my Facebook followers, I managed to get on the guest list for an exclusive meeting with Steve that took place recently in Amsterdam. Since there was quite a small crowd at this event, I was able to chat with Steve and learn from him the seven golden rules for success that he shared.

“Shooting every other Sunday won’t help. You have to take at least 20,000 photos,” he said. It is extremely important to photograph as often as possible and to pay constant attention to the shooting. All great photographers have perfected their craft day after day, transforming it from simply taking photographs into a skill full of the author's eye, heart and soul. This takes a lot of time. Looking back at my own development path, I remember that for the first 2 years I could not find my place in any of the photography genres.

It wasn't until I completed my 365 Project, where I shot daily for one year, that I was able to find myself in my photographs and put my heart and soul into them.

All creative people, from Stephen King and Ira Glass to McCurry, know that to achieve a masterpiece you need to constantly and daily do the thing in which you want to achieve success. In my opinion, it is better to shoot every day for 1 hour than once a week for 7 hours in a row. This will help the photograph become ingrained in your head so that you begin to think in photography.

Rule #2: Don't try to become a photographer.

This is one of the lessons I learned from my own experience. At 21, I wanted nothing more than to work in the advertising industry. I was able to come up with a creative ad, but I wanted to be on par with Don Draper, or even better. I was more focused on my vision of how I would become a creative director than doing anything to develop myself. Goethe said: “Everyone wants to be someone, but no one wants to become that someone.”

When he says that you shouldn't want to be a photographer, Steve McCurry is absolutely right. You don't have to want to be a photographer. You just have to do it. The photograph should find you. Of course, at some point you buy a camera and start shooting, but the process of photography should always be just a way for you to express yourself. When I compare my two creative activities, photography is exactly what makes me feel that way. Even now I don’t think of myself as a representative of this or that profession - I define myself simply by doing what I do.

Stephen said that he had never met a person who, while dreaming of being someone, put in enough effort to actually become one. All of them sooner or later gave up on their dreams - they simply lacked the inner drive.

Rule #3: Your eyes, heart and soul are your most important equipment.

Luckily, Steve shared his opinion on whether the equipment he uses is important to him. According to him, he is absolutely not worried about the camera or the lens. It doesn’t matter to him what to shoot with – Nikon, Canon, Fujifilm or Leica. The more you think about your equipment, the less attention you pay to finding creative solutions for what you love. He also added that despite the convenience of digital photography, he has not abandoned film forever. Recalling how he smuggled rolls of film out of Afghanistan that he used for illegal filming, he added jokingly: "Believe me, it's much easier to smuggle a tiny SD card out of the country than 5 rolls of film."

Steven doesn't even have his own camera bag. In addition, to summarize all of the above, he admitted that his back hurts from any cameras.

Rule #4: You shouldn't edit your photos, you should improve them - and that's great!

What Stephen can't understand is the ongoing debate about Lightroom and Photoshop that has started since the introduction of these editors. Photography legends like Henri Cartier-Bresson have always perfected their photography through dodging/burning, cropping, and any number of other techniques you can do in a dark room.

Selecting a specific camera, lens, film, filter, etc. will help you take a photo that will already be partially processed. It's the same with digital cameras - although some of the post-processing processes are done on a computer.

He emphasized that as long as you are original (but not as unique as the 20% of World Press Photo Awards disqualified), improving your photos in post-processing is a completely normal practice that helps a lot.

Processing in Lightroom, for example, helps me enhance or highlight my vision of the moment I captured in the photo. I never edit my photos too much. I try to correct only contrast, clarity, color saturation and lens distortion. If your photo doesn't have an interesting composition, natural rich colors and contrast, then Lightroom is unlikely to help you get an outstanding result. So try to take amazing photos, perfect them and enjoy the results.

Rule #5: A photograph does not always have to have deep meaning.

Should a photograph always have a deep meaning? According to Stephen, no. Although he likes to highlight certain events happening in the world, he also likes to simply highlight the bright sides of human life.

Recently, while introducing his new photo book about coffee farmers, McCurry noted that his favorite photo book was the work of a Hungarian photographer from the 1980s, who simply captured people reading a newspaper. The concept was amazingly simple, but the photos were truly breathtaking. But aren’t the simplest things in life usually the most beautiful?

Rule #6: If you truly love Photography, you will spend all your free time taking photos.

It is obvious. It may seem natural that people who are truly passionate about photography spend all their free time taking pictures, without being distracted by anything else. When I asked Stephen why he didn't want to spend more of his time teaching students photography, he replied, “Because others can do it better, and I just want to capture rare moments in photography.”

Of course, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't pay attention to any other things other than photography. You shouldn't forget about marketing, for example, because otherwise no one will notice your work.

However, those photographers who spend most of their time teaching others are usually not the best photographers, otherwise they would spend all their free time honing their skills, developing their own style and discovering new facets of photography.

This is why you most likely will not find successful entrepreneurs among the professors teaching economics at the university. However, they are usually good at teaching and it is to this activity that they devote their lives.

Rule #7: Do you want to reach heights? Don't be afraid to go all in!

Steve began his career as a photographer for National Geographic, but after a while, having photographed several projects for the magazine, he simply left the editorial office and did what he loved: traveling around the world and photographing whatever he liked.

He knows how incredibly difficult it is to make a photograph come alive, but this is exactly what he dedicates his life to. Stephen had never met anyone who became truly famous by doing their hobby part-time or only on weekends.

This approach simply doesn't work. Although photography, he says, is the most interesting job in the world, it is a job and should be devoted to it full time.

At certain times, you must not be afraid to lose sight of the shore in order to set sail and sail to new uncharted lands.

In fact, you should never question whether you want to dedicate your life to photography or not. The answer should be obvious. To take photographs that breathe life, photography should be the only thing you want to do.

Steve McCurry is a world-famous photographer, but in 2016 there was a lot of buzz around his work. The fact is that the public noticed that the interventions of the healing brush were not of the highest quality. Steve McCurry removed objects from photographs that were out of touch with the artistic composition. The photographs became more aesthetically pleasing, but given the photographer's close collaboration with National Geographic, his work had to reflect reality to a greater extent than be works of art.

If you're not using your street photos for photojournalism or high-fidelity reporting, you can follow Steve McCurry's example and retouch them. By the end of this article, you'll know exactly what to remove and what to move to another location to achieve the perfect composition.

Ethics in Photography

Photojournalism must convey real stories in the form of photographs that have not been altered. We can also tell stories with our pictures, but we have the right to edit, since we do not receive money for our work and our pictures will not end up in the news and mislead people due to photo manipulation.

Most street photographers follow the ethics of street photography and leave images as they were originally taken, while some prefer to manipulate the content.

Steve McCurry is now positioned as a visual storyteller, so he is no longer concerned with the ethics of a photojournalist. If we define ourselves as street photographers or photojournalists, we should not engage in photo manipulation. This will make your story a lie. Even if the smallest details are changed, it will still be interference in real events.

Understanding the principles of editing

Most of Steve McCurry's photographs are portraits, but we will be looking at his landscape photographs. Photographs usually have a slight human element when people are in random places and ruin the harmony of the composition. The final result after processing will be a polished image with excellent content without distracting elements.

Most of us understand how to get the composition right. You also know how to edit your photos, but how to remove distracting elements?

First, we must start with an image with good composition. No amount of post-processing or cropping can save a bad photo.

In the first example we see a surfer getting ready to catch a wave, but we also have a lot of distractions that take up some of the attention and the figure of the person no longer seems so significant. People in the water, the sign, large stones and reflections in the water are too contrasting and large. There is also a deficiency on palm leaves.

A Hue/Saturation adjustment layer in Photoshop was used with masks to add more color to the sky and change the color of the surfboard. The color red stands out in many of Steve McCurry's photographs. It grabs the viewer's attention and helps complete the color palette. If red, blue and green dominate the image, the photo will look more meaningful and balanced.

Look at the adjustment layers used for editing in Photoshop. A gray layer was added at the top to give the image a denser color, similar to what we see in many of McCurry's shots. The gray color code used is #eff0f1. The layer is set to the "Multiply" blending mode with an opacity of 50%.

The remaining images are edited in a similar manner, with an emphasis on eliminating distractions.

For example, in the following image the head of a tourist is in the frame and there are some other distracting elements. When taking the photo, it was important to ensure that the statue's arms did not overlap the palm trees, so the correct position had to be chosen. One step left or right could ruin everything.

Also in the picture, the floral elements lying in the hands of the statue awkwardly rest against the bottom edge of the picture. The bright gap between the leaves on the left side of the palm distracts attention. All this needs to be eliminated.

The essence of editing is simple. You need to find everything in the picture that catches your eye, and if it is not a significant element for the story, remove it. Let's look at a few more examples.

The cone in the next photo takes a lot of attention, especially since it is located close to the edge. There are too many objects in the distance. But we won't delete them all. In the foreground there are two people on the left and one on the right. Let's make a mirror reflection in the distance. Let's also leave two people on the left and one on the right. Not many will notice this move, but it will balance the composition.

The following example shows a more complex adjustment. The part of the building on the right breaks the symmetry. It must be removed carefully so as not to disturb the edges of the rest of the building. If your eyes constantly catch on some objects that distract attention from the essence of the photo, remove them.

Here you need to correct the horizon line. With the usual method, part of the sign will be cropped, so I had to expand the boundaries of the photo and rotate it slightly. Thus, part of the image was not completely filled. The gap can be filled by sky cloning.

The color palette of the photo is dark, so the color of the manhole cover was changed to red, completing the color harmony. Glare on the sign has been reduced.

This is a simple shot of clouds reflecting on water. The image was taken with a slight margin on the right, so we crop this area. Other distracting elements, such as people on the beach and their belongings, have been removed.

Conclusion

Removing distracting elements is one of the best ways to keep your attention on the subject and polish the image to perfection. If you decide to take the path of a visual storyteller rather than a photojournalist, then pay attention to what spoils your composition and feel free to clear the image of anything unnecessary.