Are Afghans the most photogenic nation in the world?

Last week we had a great possibility to meet Steve McCurry, the photographer who 24 years ago took a picture of an Afghan girl for the National Geographic magazine. The rest is a well-known history: the photo of the refugee girl with heavenly looks became a hit around the world, published in tens of millions. Years later McCurry went back to the region in order to find his model and miraculously they met again – he by now a worldwide known photographer and her a strict looking woman.

The McCurry’s presentation took place at the American Institute for Afghanistan Studies. We have been guests here before: we attended a lecture on tombstones and another one about the Durand Line. Once we watched here the first Afghan movie. Dating back to 1946, it is a funny piece of art mirroring the tastes of Bollywood: a naive love story with dancing and singing!

I liked the informal presentation by Steve. He showed us his pictures he had taken during his many visits to Afghanistan, explaining the stories behind the photos: sometimes he liked the colours or it was just a wonderful moment or many fabulous portraits. The audience was small (the meeting was announced only three hours before – it is difficult to respond so quickly in Kabul), so everybody had a possibility to ask questions.

During my stay in Afghanistan, I got the feeling that many Afghans have a very special - even ancient – look about them. They have is some kind of depth what feels sometimes almost desperate : I have not taken photos for months back at home, but I feel like a „photoholic” in Afghanistan. So I was happy to hear from Steve McCurry who has travelled around the world: probably Afghans have most photogenic faces I have ever seen, he argued.

During McCurry’s presentation I got a feeling that we have met before. It seemed to be impossible until he showed some pictures of Band-e Amir lakes. I had a flashback: me and my husband met him on the beach of Band-e Haibat, the biggest lake. He introduced himself as a journalist Steve from National Geographic. He looked at our tent and made a sarcastic joke that one can write two phrases on our tent: “kill me” and “rape me”. (For more read the Kabul Diary archives for June 2007)