STEVE MCCURRY
Steve McCurry was born on April 23, 1950 in Pennsylvania. He attended Penn State University. He originally was going to study filmmaking, but instead got a degree in theater arts. He became interested in photography when he started taking pictures for the Penn State newspaper. After working in a newspaper shop for two years, he left for India, which he said was his favorite country to go to. After working in India for a year, he traveled to Pakistan where he met two Afghans who told him about the war across the border in Afghanistan. McCurry's career was launched when, disguised in Afghani garb, he crossed the Pakistan border into rebel the controlled areas of Afghanistan just before the Soviet Invasion. He said "As soon as I crossed the border, I came across about 40 houses and a few schools that were just bombed out," he says. "They were literally destroying whole villages with helicopter gunships." He left with rolls of film sewn into his turban and stuffed in his socks and underwear. He left with rolls of film sewn into his clothes. These images were published by The New York Times, TIME and Paris Match and won him the Robert Capa Gold Medal for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad.