This Day in History: 1950-02-24

Steve McCurry, American photographer, is born on this day in 1950. McCurry’s most famous image, a photo of Sharbat Gula was taken in 1984 in Pakistan. The photo appeared on the cover of National Geographic. McCurry says: “The first thing you need to do when you approach people is to see them and relate to them as real people, not somehow quaint or foreign,” he emphasizes. “If you can just relate to people as real people and establish some rapport, whether you joke around with them or whatever, people respond and open up, and are happy to be photographed. I don’t think there’s any mystery or trick about it.”