I came across this photograph working on my presentation about wars in Kashmir and Afghanistan. And I just wanted to put it here because I think it's one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. This photo was taken during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. It was one girl who was in a refugee camp. The photographer Steve McCurry published the photograph in the June 1985 issue of National Geographic and it became famous world-wide as symbol for the war in Afghanistan because of her eyes expressing anger and fear at the same time.
Here is the article accompanying the photograph:
But until recently the photograph and the girl in it were referred by as "the Afghan girl" because Steve McCurry didn't know the name of the girl. He only knew that she was from a Pashtun tribe (in the Southern regions) and that she was around 12 in 1985. So he decided to go look for her. He found her after many difficulties. The article describing his trip was published in the April 2002 issue of National Geographic.
Here is the link if you want to read it: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/03/0311_020312_sharbat.html
Her name is Sharbat Gula and she has never been aware she became a symbol for the Afghan people in the world. She had been living according to Pashtun customs, almost isolated with her husband and she had four daughter.
Here you can see how she looks like now:
I truly the look she has. She expresses fear and anger at the same time as she is hiding a terrible inner strengh. When I look at her, I see misery but I see pride too. It is a terrible picture but so beautiful. In my opinion, such a picture would always be more beautiful and magnificient than any picture of landscape or than any painting, be it Mona Lisa or the Niagara falls. Just because it is a real person on there and she is how reality looks like.
Copyright to National Geographic and the photographer Steve McCurry.
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