In 1984, photographer Steve McCurry took a picture which changed the perception of Afghan refugees, highlighted the plights of men and women in a country wracked by war and became a symbol of resilience and strength. You may have seen it before:
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| ^ Sharbat Gula as a girl in 1984. This picture was to feature on the front cover of National Geographic in 1985. |
The first thing which must strike you when looking at this picture is the piercing stare of those startling eyes. This picture was taken by Steve McCurry, who found the girl in a refugee camp, noticing her as shy and quiet. He says that, at the time, he had no idea that he had just taken a picture which was to become an icon of the resilience of Afghan refugees.
Years after this picture was taken, a team went to Afghanistan to find this girl, and to photograph her as a women. They had no idea how to find her or if she was even still alive. When shown this picture, one man said he knew her brother, and managed to find him and his sister for the team. Upon sighting her in 2003, McCurry knew he had found the girl. Now a woman, there was no mistaking the set of the face and those eyes. Her name is Sharbat Gula.
When found, Sharbat had 3 daughters, the fourth having died in infancy, was married and had gone into purdah, the isolated state in which many Muslim woman enter, hiding their faces from the public eye. She agreed, however, to show her face to be photographed for the second time in her life:
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| ^ Sharbat says she has never known a happy day in her life. |
To read Sharbat's story:
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