Home  ›  Famous Nat Geo Cover Blue Eyed Afghan Girl

Famous Nat Geo Cover Blue Eyed Afghan Girl

Written By Saturday, July 9, 2022 Add Comment Edit

1985 cover photograph on National Geographic magazine

Afghan Girl
Sharbat Gula.jpg

1984 photographic portrait by journalist Steve McCurry
Year 1984
Medium Kodachrome 64 color slide film, with a Nikon FM2 camera and Nikkor 105mm Ai-S F2.5 lens.
Subject Sharbat Gula
Owner Steve McCurry

The World of Steve McCurry exposition in Palais de la Bourse/Beurspaleis of Brussels in May 2017

Afghan Girl is a 1984 photographic portrait of Sharbat Gula (Pashto: شربت ګله) (pronounced [ˈʃaɾbat]) (born 20 March 1972), also known as Sharbat Bibi, taken by photojournalist Steve McCurry.[1] It appeared on the June 1985 cover of National Geographic magazine. The image is of an adolescent girl with green eyes in a red headscarf looking intensely at the camera. The identity of the subject of the photograph was initially unknown, but in early 2002, she was identified as Sharbat Gula. She was a Pashtun child living in the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Pakistan during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, aged 12, when she was photographed.

The photograph has been called "the First World's Third World Mona Lisa",[2] with reference to Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the same name.[3] [4] The image became "emblematic" of "refugee girl/woman located in some distant camp" deserving of the Western viewer's compassion[5] and a symbol of Afghanistan to the West.[6]

Photo for National Geographic magazine [edit]

Sharbat Gula was one of the students in an informal school at the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in 1984. Her photograph was taken by National Geographic Society photographer Steve McCurry, on Kodachrome 64 color slide film, with a Nikon FM2 camera and Nikkor 105mm Ai-S F2.5 lens.[7] The pre-print retouching of the photograph was done by Graphic Art Service, based in Marietta, Georgia. McCurry did not record the name of the person he had photographed.

The photograph, entitled Afghan Girl, appeared on the June 1985 cover of National Geographic. The image of her face, with a red scarf draped loosely over her head and her eyes staring directly into the camera, was named "the most recognized photograph" in the magazine's history, and the cover is one of National Geographic's best known.[8] American Photo magazine says the image has an "unusual combination of grittiness and glamour".[9] Gula's green eyes have been the subject of much commentary.[5] [10] [11]

McCurry made several unsuccessful attempts during the 1990s to find her.[12] In January 2002, a National Geographic team traveled to Afghanistan to find her. Upon learning that the Nasir Bagh refugee camp was soon to close, McCurry inquired of its remaining residents, one of whom knew Gula's brother and was able to send word to her hometown. Several women falsely identified themselves as the Afghan Girl. In addition, after being shown the 1984 photograph, several young men erroneously identified her as their wife.

The team found Gula, then around age 30, in a remote region of Afghanistan; she had returned to her native country from the refugee camp in 1992. Her identity was confirmed by John Daugman using iris recognition.[13] She recalled being photographed. She had been photographed on only three occasions: in 1984 and during the search for her when a National Geographic producer took the identifying photographs that led to the reunion with McCurry. She had never seen Afghan Girl until it was shown to her in 2002.

Sharbat Gula [edit]

Pashtun by ethnicity and from a rural background, Gula's family fled their village in eastern Nangarhar during the Soviet Union's bombing of Afghanistan when she was around six years old. Along with her father, brother, and three sisters, she walked across the mountains to Pakistan to the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in 1984 where she was photographed.[14]

A devout Muslim, Gula normally wears a burqa[14] and was hesitant to meet McCurry, as he was a male from outside the family. After finding Gula, National Geographic covered the costs of medical treatment for her family and a pilgrimage to Mecca.[15]

On 26 October 2016, Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency arrested Gula for living in Pakistan with forged documents.[16] She was sentenced to fifteen days in detention and deported to Afghanistan.[17] [18] With the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in 2021, the Taliban threatened or intimidated high-profile women.[19] The Afghan Girl photograph had made Gula globally famous, hence her prominence put her in danger. At her request, the Italian Government evacuated her to Italy in late November 2021.[20] [21]

Legacy [edit]

Interest in the photograph increased after the 9/11 attacks, when the George W. Bush administration began promoting Afghan women's rights during the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan.[12] [22]

Photographs of Gula were featured as part of a cover story on her life in the April 2002 issue of National Geographic and she was the subject of a television documentary, Search for the Afghan Girl, that aired in March 2002. In recognition of her,[23] National Geographic set up the Afghan Girls Fund, a charitable organization with the goal of educating Afghan girls and young women.[24] In 2008, the fund's scope was broadened to include boys and the name was changed to Afghan Children's Fund.[25]

Criticism [edit]

A 2019 article in the Indian magazine The Wire that described a 2002 interview with Gula says that she was angered by the photograph being taken and published without her consent. The writer for The Wire suggests that this is because "it is not welcome for a girl of traditional Pashtun culture to reveal her face, share space, make eye contact and be photographed by a man who does not belong to her family."[6]

See also [edit]

  • Afghan clothing

References [edit]

  1. ^ Ismail Khan (February 25, 2015). "Pakistan issues CNIC to Nat Geo's famed 'Afghan Girl'". DAWN. Archived from the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  2. ^ Wendy S. Hesford; Wendy Kozol, eds. (2005). Just Advocacy?: Women's Human Rights, Transnational Feminisms, and the Politics of Representation. Rutgers University Press. p. 1. ISBN9780813535890.
  3. ^ Zoroya, Greg (2002-03-13). "National Geographic tracks down Afghan girl". USA Today. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on 2012-02-28. Retrieved 2012-02-14 .
  4. ^ "Hollywood movie poster at the Kabul Cinema". Meridian International Center. Archived from the original on 2012-12-22. Retrieved 2012-12-04 .
  5. ^ a b Cain, Maureen; Howe, Adrian (2008-11-03). Women, Crime and Social Harm: Towards a Criminology for the Global Age. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 87–. ISBN9781847314703. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  6. ^ a b Ribhu (12 March 2019). "You'll Never See the Iconic Photo of the 'Afghan Girl' the Same Way Again". The Wire . Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  7. ^ "Portfolio". Nikon World (Summer ed.). Nikon. 4 (1): 9. 1988. OCLC 2265134. Archived from the original on 2013-06-20. Retrieved 2012-01-14 .
  8. ^ McCurry, Steve (10 April 2001). "National Geographic: Afghan Girl, A Life Revealed". The Washington Post. OCLC 56914684. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 2012-01-14 .
  9. ^ "Photographer of the Year: Steve McCurry". American Photo. XIII (4): 43–54: 45. July–August 2002. Archived from the original on 2017-02-20.
  10. ^ In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits. National Geographic Society. 2010-09-15. pp. 355–. ISBN9781426206474. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  11. ^ Rathgeb, Christian; Uhl, Andreas; Wild, Peter (2012-11-08). Iris Biometrics: From Segmentation to Template Security. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 3–. ISBN9781461455714. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  12. ^ a b Hesford, Wendy S.; Kozol, Wendy (2005). Just Advocacy?: Women's Human Rights, Transnational Feminisms, and the Politics of Representation. Rutgers University Press. pp. 1–. ISBN9780813535890. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  13. ^ Daugman, John. "How the Afghan Girl was Identified by Her Iris Patterns". Archived from the original on 2012-01-12. Retrieved 2012-01-14 .
  14. ^ a b Newman, Cathy (April 2002). "Afghan Girl: A Life Revealed". National Geographic Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2012-01-14 .
  15. ^ "'Afghan girl' cameraman tells stories behind pictures". The Bosnia Times. October 30, 2013. Archived from the original on April 23, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  16. ^ Boone, Jon (2016-10-26). "National Geographic 'Afghan Girl' arrested in Pakistan living under false papers". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2016-10-26 .
  17. ^ "Pakistan to deport National Geographic's 'Afghan Girl' Sharbat Gula next week". ABC News. AP. 5 November 2016. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  18. ^ Lynne O'Donnell and Riaz Khan (November 9, 2016). "Pakistan deports National Geographic's iconic 'Afghan Girl'". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2016-11-13 .
  19. ^ Gross, Jenny (November 27, 2021). "'Afghan Girl' from 1985 National Geographic cover takes refuge in Italy". The New York Times . Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  20. ^ "The woman from National Geographic's famous 'Afghan Girl' photo is evacuated to Italy". NPR. Associated Press. 2021-11-25. Retrieved 2021-11-25 .
  21. ^ "National Geographic green-eyed 'Afghan Girl' evacuated to Italy". The Guardian. Associated Press. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  22. ^ Whitlock, Gillian (2010-02-15). Soft Weapons: Autobiography in Transit. University of Chicago Press. pp. 71–. ISBN9780226895277. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  23. ^ Braun, David (7 March 2003). "How They Found National Geographic's 'Afghan Girl'". National Geographic News. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 2012-01-14 .
  24. ^ "National Geographic Society: Afghan Girls Fund". National Geographic Society. August 2004. Archived from the original on 2004-12-06. Retrieved 2009-03-15 .
  25. ^ "National Geographic Society: Afghan Children's Fund". National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 2011-12-24. Retrieved 2012-01-14 .

Further reading [edit]

  • McCurry, Steve (2013). Untold: The Stories Behind the Photographs. Phaidon Press. ISBN978-0714864624.

External links [edit]

  • "A Life Revealed"—National Geographic
  • "Afghan Girl -Is the pen mightier than the picture?"
  • Search for the Afghan Girl at IMDb
  • "Before and After - The Afghan Girl (1984 and 2002)"—National Geographic
  • "'Afghan Girl': Taking National Geographic 's Most Famous Photo", FORA.tv, The Chautauqua Institution, YouTube, July 29, 2010 (video clip).
  • Hajek, Daniel (July 26, 2015). "How One Photographer Captured a Piercing Gaze That Shook the World". My Big Break (story series). All Things Considered. NPR. Retrieved July 27, 2015.

minorgorwast.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Girl

0 Response to "Famous Nat Geo Cover Blue Eyed Afghan Girl"

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Iklan Atas Artikel

Iklan Tengah Artikel 1

Iklan Tengah Artikel 2

Iklan Bawah Artikel