Calah Jones Artist Post 1

1.     Contemporary photographer and photojournalist, Steve McCurry, uses a Nikon DSLR and a 24-70mm zoom lens for majority of his work.  For certain jobs he makes photos with his medium format digital Hasselblad.  In the famous image of a young Afghan girl named Sharbat Gula, McCurry was using a Nikon FM2 camera and a Nikkor 105mm F2.5 lens.

2.     McCurry’s work is often recognized for his unique use of color, light, and composition.  When planning how he will capture the image, he identifies the quality of light, the scene, and how sections of a view will fit together in the frame of a photograph.  McCurry thinks about the simplicity in his approaches when creating an image.  In an interview with “One on One With the Masters of Photography,” McCurry explained that he focuses on key elements such as composition, design, and emotion when capturing moments to reveal a deeper story.  He wants each individual photograph to be able to stand by itself and have it’s own place and feeling.

3.     Steve McCurry’s work is very intriguing because of his use of technique and how he uses his elements.  He also has a connection with the people he photographs rather than just taking pictures of his environment.  Knowing this, he makes his photographs more powerful knowing the story behind the image and also seeing how well he uses his resources (lighting during certain times of the day) and how he wants to mentally frame his image before capturing it.  I think this is very powerful and what makes his photographs so vibrant and exotic to look at.