Creator: Steve McCurry.
Title: AFGHANISTAN. AFGHANISTAN. Kabul. 1992. A widow who is forced to beg comes out of a restaurant after having just received some money from a patron.
Date: 1992
ARTstor Collection: Magnum Photos
I picked this photograph because of the color balance. I am not exactly sure what the color balance is, but it is what grabbed me. The photos that surrounded this when I was browsing were in black and white, so this photograph stood out even more to me. I especially like the way the photographer framed the photograph. He could have made the the door the center focus, but by putting it just off to the side, it feels more spontaneous. Also, I enjoy how, technically, it is an action shot. This woman is in the process of stepping down and by waiting to get that exact moment, the photographer captured part of her clothes beneath the burqa, which is a rare sight.
At first glance, this looks to be just an average Afghan woman leaving a building, but after reading the detailed title, I noticed more things. First was just how dirty her burqa is, second, was how tattered the burqa is. I did notice that there was something in her hand, but not being familiar with currency in Afghanistan, I did not know it was money until it was pointed out. To say women have it easy in Afghanistan would be a fallacy, but knowing that this photo was taken in 1992, around the Afghanistan Civil War, and knowing what I do about future events in Afghanistan, I cannot help but feel sorry for this woman.
Once I read who took the photo (Steve McCurry), I had a better sense of what was being captured here and how dangerous it must have been to secure the image. Of course I knew McCurry from his "Afghan Girl" photo, and so I knew how much time he puts into his shots. I believe he mentioned once that if you wait long enough, people will forget that you have a camera. I think he must have waited a long time for this one because begging requires someone to forgo their pride and for this woman to not have hidden the cash right away tells me that she might be unaware that McCurry is around. I am also more appreciate of this photograph because I know that McCurry willing entered Afghanistan to capture the human conflict, just not the death and destruction. This image is heartbreaking and profound, and yet is not overdone or too stylized. McCurry is known for humanizing war, and I think he hit the nail on the head with this photograph.
It is a beautiful picture and McCurry is indeed a master. First let's look at "color balance" - you say you were struck by it, and yet aren't sure what it is. Usually in photography it is a technical term (you should look it up to see what a standard definition of the technical sense is). What you noticed here may be more a matter of the image composition, the wonderful blue of the door frame picked up by the blue of the object on the table and the hint of blue in her hidden dress. Also the ochre of the burka is linked to the stain on the cement at the left and the out rug draped over the doorway. McCurry's eye for this kind of detail is what makes him the brilliant photographer he is.
ReplyDeleteDon't over sentimentalize images like this one. The position of women in Afghanistan is appalling and has been for centuries. The word fallacy is not the word you want here. I can't imagine that she is unaware of McCurry's presence, although with a long lens he could be further away from her than we think. The way her body is twisted and the angle of her head suggest to me that she is turning away from him slightly even though her face is covered.
Think about this - the building she is coming out of is a restaurant? Inside of which there were people willing to give charity to a begging woman? What does that say to you?