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about every prize in the world, his passion for the magical

instant that passes between framing the shot and clicking the

shutter is as strong as ever. It is part of his nature. “Watching

him at work is incredible,” confirms Marco Tiburzi, who has

had the “honour and the enormous pleasure,” he says, of

being with Steve in all the locations used for shooting the

campaigns for Jacob Cohën: “I remember in Havana, it was

unbelievable: he sat motionless for a whole afternoon on a

wall watching the street and the people coming and going,

and the light changing. Then, when the moment to act had

come, he had everything perfectly clear in his mind: he knew

what he wanted and what was going to happen around him,

there on the street. And the work would become as easy as

pie for him.” The account of this ‘special observer’ perhaps

contains all the mystery, and the mastery, of a world-famous

the company, this course-partnership is “an authentic journey photographer. So I risk the question: but the relentless march

together.” And, as happens when you travel in company, of digital, the billions of pictures circulating endlessly on the

you share ideas, thoughts, projects, and things beyond the web, have they changed your way of working? “Not in the

professional motives that bring you together. “Steve told us slightest,” he replies crisply. “I love technology. The idea that

about this project, which he is promoting in Afghanistan with I can use my smartphone to take photos of sublime quality at

his non-profit organization ImagineAsia: involving groups any time even when I have no professional equipment with me

of Afghan girls in a path of emancipation by is an incredible and wonderful thing. However,

teaching them photography. We immediately } It is a cultural you have to be careful: taking snaps of yourself
appreciated his idea, because we saw it as investment in a eating a sandwich, for example, and putting
an intelligent way of lending a hand. It is the picture on Instagram... this is something
a cultural investment in a generation, an generation, an idea that has no value. Or, rather, it is a memory
idea that will yield positive results over time.” that will lead which may have some value to you and your
The first step was taken not only to support to positive results circle of friends, but it isn’t “photography”.
the cause financially, but also to increase its Granted, digital photography has given many

visibility: the creation of a limited edition more people the chance to take photos, to

jacket customized in the lining with a picture of an Indian tackle the visual language of a photograph. But if you compare

guru. “The decision to construct a solidarity project based it with writing; it simply isn’t the case that every time somebody

around photography is proof of the passion that I have for this dashes off an email they are composing an immortal poem...”

art,” says McCurry. “These girls grew up in a society that wants

to subordinate women and make them almost invisible, and

teaching them how to take a picture means giving them the

tools with which to see things in a different way, to read the

situation they are experiencing through the perspective of a

camera lens. It happens to me, too: when I am out looking for

something to photograph, I am more attentive, sensitive, and

receptive. In this way, women will have an instrument to help

them communicate their point of view.”

W hat is the first thing that the “maestro” teaches his
Afghan pupils? “I explain to them that photography
is curiosity, it is the desire to explore the world
you live in. And also that photography is the desire to share
something that you have discovered with somebody else.”
It is easy to detect as he speaks that, despite the fact that he
has been doing his job for half a century and has won just

Above, from left, Marco Tiburzi, Jennifer Tommasi Bardelle and Steve McCurry in the Milan showroom of Jacob Cohën (www.jacobcohen.it).
They are posing with the limited edition Jacob Cohën jacket (also top) in washed, treated and waxed leather.
Right, “Afghan Girl” is a 1984 photographic portrait by Steve McCurry which appeared on the June 1985 cover of “National Geographic”.

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