what I learned from Steve McCurry
I was fortunate to once work for Magnum photographer Steve McCurry. I worked on developing the digital workflow system in his studio and was lucky enough to develop a friendship with him that lasted beyond my time working there. When people I talk to find out I’ve worked for Steve McCurry I’m often asked what he’s like or what I’ve learned from him. I thought I’d share what for me is probably the most important lesson I’ve learned from Steve. Perhaps it’s a lesson that will be of benefit to others.
On one occasion I went on a shoot with Steve McCurry in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. It was during carnival and we were going to various street parties in Rio de Janeiro photographing the people celebrating. On one of the days we were going to shoot a street party in Ipanema and Steve’s fixer had serious reservations about going to this particular party to photograph. Rio de Janeiro can be a dangerous and unpredictable city and although people are generally in good spirits during carnival, walking around with an expensive digital camera in a country with a lot of very poor people can invite trouble. In addition Steve was photographing a lot of people in amorous situations and very often, as Steve’s fixer explained, people during carnival aren’t necessarily kissing their spouse or significant other. Steve’s fixer was concerned that this particular party would be more dangerous than the others we’d been going to and was afraid to go because it would be quite likely that if Steve photographed the wrong people someone might shoot first and ask questions later. Steve’s fixer was genuinely worried about our safety and well being and if something happened he would have felt responsible. He and steve actually got into a bit of an argument over this. Steve explained that he’d been photographing in dangerous conflict/war zones for the past 25 years and he’d been in a lot more dangerous places than Rio de Janeiro, as dangerous as Rio de Janeiro can be. He went on to say that his options were to either stay in our apartment out of fear or he could go out and do his job, use his best judgment, and hope for the best. He told his fixer, “If someone wants to steal my camera I don’t care. If someone wants to smash my camera, I don’t care. I have a job to do.” He went on to say that if he was going to sit in the apartment in fear then he might as well have stayed in New York.
I learned more from this exchange than any other experience of being on this assignment with Steve McCurry. It gave me a lot of insight into how he has consistently produced some of the world’s most compelling images over the length of his career. On top of his talent and hard work, it’s his determination to get the pictures he wants that I believe puts him at the top of his field.
I spent a year in Brazil prior to going to New York and meeting Steve McCurry. I shot very little film during my stay. This was something I had a lot of regret about since it was likely the only opportunity I would have to spend a year in a foreign country. After witnessing the exchange between Steve and his fixer I realized the reason I had not photographed very much was fear. I was worried about losing my camera which would have been difficult and expensive for me to replace. I was afraid of confronting the people I wanted to photograph.
I came to a sobering realization. I wasn’t going to get any good photos sitting in my apt. in fear.
Tags: bresil, carnival, dedication, fear, magnum photographer, photography, professionalism, rio de janeiro, steve mccurry, travel blog, travel blogs, travel journals
