The ladies of a small village near Lake Kariba, Zambia, were absorbed in song as they carried heavy mud bricks to the building site of their new place of worship. (Image data: Canon 40d, 18-200 lens, 134mm focal length, ISO 400, f/7.1)
On a bookshelf in my office rests a National Geographic collection dating back to the 1950s. Every spine is yellow, with the exception of one, February 1981, which was orange to highlight the then-current energy crisis.
While its carroty pigment renders it easy to pinpoint among a sea of yellow, if we fast forward to June 1985 and reveal its cover, we glimpse an image that changed the world … or at least mine: It’s Steve McCurry’s famous portrait of a nameless 12-year-old refugee who became known as the “Afghan Girl.” Her penetrating eyes, tattered scarf and dirtsmudged skin conveyed a life of struggle and pulled on the heartstrings of a generation.