1. Personal Background: Steve McCurry was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He graduated from the College of Arts and Architecture at Pennsylvania State University. McCurry later won the Robert Capa Gold Medal for best photographic reporting from abroad. He also won at least three other awards (Magazine Photographer of the year once and Olivier Rebbot Award Twice). McCurry is known as a author as well as a photographer as he has written multiple books. McCurry has said he is very much influenced by Buddhism.
2. Style: McCurry is a photojournalist which means he uses images he takes to tell news stories. His photography style tends to include vibrant images as well as low contrast, low light images. Images he takes tend to be very gritty and real. To take pictures, McCurry will typically set up his camera and wait. This is because people tend to forget about the camera when it is there long enough. Once people forget, McCurry can take very natural, real photographs. A painting that can be compared to Kashmir by Steve McCurry is named Bathing at la Grenouilliere 1869 by Claude Oscar Monet. Both images use lots of vibrant colors. Both images also include small boats in the water which also has visible reflections in it. A difference between the painting and the image however is the perceived lighting which in the image appears to be in the morning and has a colder vibe while the painting seems in the evening and has a warmer vibe.
3. Philosophy: McCurry loves to photograph portraits of people. He wants to go back to Afghanistan to take pictures, but sees the USA occupation of the country as a big problem that has wasted a lot of resources and led to a lot of deaths so he refuses to go. However McCurry is fascinated by ancient cultures. McCurry often takes pictures on his way to places as well as the actual destination as there can be a lot of great material out there that is relatively hidden. Using this strategy allows for more creative pictures. When McCurry is actually at a destination, he doesn’t have any plans and wanders around to figure out what to take pictures of. His main philosophy is to practice a lot and find your own way and style of taking photographs.
4. Influences: McCurry has influenced my work in a variety of ways. One of those ways is the importance of the time of day a picture is taken. The time of day can drastically impact the lighting, contrast, and overall quality of the image. Also, McCurry’s very real, gritty style of photography is intriguing. His photography has helped inspire me to show more of the grittiness in photos I take. Finally, McCurry has influenced me by helping my see the beauty in ordinary everyday things if seen from the right perspective.
6. Compare and Contrast: A main difference between my pictures and McCurry’s pictures is that mine are taken at a different time of the day which changes the lighting and contrast. Also, his pictures are from all around the world while mine are all in one city. However, both my and his images show imperfections in the image and some level of grittiness.
My first image named “Fallen” contains a sculpture just like the Luang Prabang, Laos by Steve McCurry image does. However that image shows a sculpture that is old and broken while mine is new and intact. Both images however show a rugged background that has gone under weathering.
My second image “Rundown” contains a rundown garage which is part of a barn. “Russia by Steve McCurry” also contains a rundown, imperfect structure that is also made of wood. The time of day the pictures are taken is different. However both images show old buildings that have gone under weathering.
My third image named “Greens” contains a landscape image with water similar to “Ireland by Steve McCurry”. “Greens” however is more vibrant. However “Ireland by Steve McCurry” shows a much more open space and a distance much farther away can be seen.
7. Personal Artist Statement: My three images all use color as a big component. All three images also have a component that makes them similar to McCurry’s images but have their own creative elements and use my own style. All three images use rule of thirds. The first 2 images also have a large contrast between the focus of the image and the background. The third image has a sense of space. All of the images are in my hometown which I have lived in my whole life. I have seen the areas they are taken in many times. The area is a great place to grow up and I have a lot of fond memories of it.