「Look at the Picture and Talk about the Painting」Steve McCurry – The warmth of humanity in the film

Steve McCurry, a core photographer who has collaborated with National Geographic for 20 years, shifted his lens from magnificent landscapes to war zones and refugee camps.

He is a poet who writes about the human soul with film. The red and green contrast in “The Afghan Girl” in 1985 is a microcosm of his creative philosophy. The fear and stubbornness in that pair of pupils are just like his viewpoint that “a photo can tell a story”. His use of color is never merely for visual impact, but rather it carries his reverence for life and insight into human nature.

He never uses a flash to break the on-site atmosphere. Instead, he weaves a delicate texture with diffused light, and strings together the narrative with two or three complementary colors. He is good at capturing the stories in people’s eyes, allowing viewers to understand the characters’ inner world through their pupils. His lens is always focused on ordinary people, from monks to fishermen, from children to the elderly, making the lives of ordinary people bloom with strength in the play of light and shadow. Those moments that he “waits” for are like unfinished lives, carrying the warmth of life and the weight of existence.

His lens conveys the heartbeat of strangers through light and shadow, and what he preserves is the common tenacity and tenderness of humanity, the warmth of life that will never fade no matter how times change.

The tea for today is all gone. Next time, I’ll brew a fresh pot and enjoy art with you again.