I took the ‘Afghan Girl’ picture almost 40 years ago – I couldn’t have imagined what happened next

Steve McCurry’s photo of Sharbat Gula – pictured left age 12 – was taken in the Nasir Bagh refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan.(Picture: AFP/DPA)

When Steve McCurry paused to snap a photo of a young girl in Pakistan, he never realised the legacy it would leave. 

The Magnum Photos and National Geographic photographer became internationally renowned after releasing his powerful 1984 portrait of Sharbat Gula, an Afghan refugee he’d met in Pakistan during the Soviet–Afghan War.

The now world famous image showed oprhan Sharbat, then 12, staring determinedly down the camera lens. The picture became known as the ‘Afghan Girl’.

Steve tracked down Sharbat in 2002 where he took another portrait, seen above on the right.

Since the initial photo, the single mother – who has four children – had spent three decades as a refugee in Pakistan and was arrested in 2016 for using a forged identity card. Doing so was a common practice at the time among refugees forced to live in Pakistan without legal status.

Sharbat was released two weeks after her arrest and finally given a home in Afghanistan in 2017.

Despite it being shot almost four decades ago, the portrait of her 12-year-old self is still widely known – and branded ‘the most recognized photograph’ in the history of the National Geographic magazine.

‘I knew the image had potential at the time I took it, but I could never predicted nor imagined that it would have worldwide impact for the past decades’, Steve tells Metro.co.uk.

The 73-year-old was speaking ahead of the publication of his new book Devotion, which documents his time travelling the globe as a photographer, and shows how his work goes way beyond that one iconic image.

He continues: ‘This may be my most important book because it involves action, not just good feelings, sympathy, or intentions. Devotion brings out the very best of the human spirit and offers purpose and meaning in one’s life.

‘This book explores the impact and evidence of devotion in action.’

Here, we take a look at some of the photographer’s other beautifully shot and thought-provoking imagery he’s captured over the decades.

McCurry’s photographs from through the decades capture devotion in all forms. This picture shows pilgrims at Larung Gar in Kham, Tibet. ‘Larung Gar’ is the local name for the community of mostly Tibetan and Han Chinese students which grew around the Serta Larung Five Science Buddhist Academy, founded in 1980. Residents include monks, nuns, vow holders and lay people (Picture: Steve McCurry, 2001)

Asaro mudmen, also known as the Holosa, perform a ceremonial ritual at Geremiyaka village in Papura New Guinea. Speaking to Forbes in 2017, McCurry said: ‘I was fascinated to meet the mudmen of Papua New Guinea’s highlands, who make ghoulish masks and pose with weapons in homage to their past tribal rivalries. Although today their dances are more ceremonial, they still revere their ancestors’ traditions by memorializing old ways of superstition and illusion.’ (Picture: Steve McCurry, 2017)

McCurry has captured religious devotion in all forms – such as here, at the Hazratbal Shrine. He spent hours with a group of men and women as they prayed at the sacred site located in Srinagar, Kashmir. The Hazratbal Shrine holds a sacred relic which draws a huge following. It is home to a hair, said to be of the Prophet Muhammad, which is referred to as the Moi-e- Muqqadas. (Picture: Steve McCurry, 1998)

Here, McCurry followed a Good Friday procession in Enna, Italy. The city is transported back in time each year as car use is limited and lighting replaced by torches. The Good Friday procession sees nearly 2,500 hooded ‘brothers’ parade along the streets of almost all the city as part of the historic religious event. As the men march, a band accompanies the procession with somber melodies. (Picture: Steve McCurry, 2011)

McCurry says he uses his camera as a ‘shield’ when he witnesses dangerous or distressing sights. In this image, he watched as scientists took on the daunting task of collecting soil and air samples from the Al-Ahmadi Oil Fields in Kuwait, which had been devastated by a large fire (Picture: Steve McCurry, 1991)

In this image – taken in Mauritania – McCurry captures the immediate devotion of a mother to her newborn child. As she takes in the wonder of her son, a midwife devoted to the task at hand sits on in the maternity clinic. The photograph was taken in Nouakchott – one of the largest cities in the Sahara (Picture: Steve McCurry, 1986)

Dervishes perform their tradition of whirling and chanting in Istanbul, Turkey – in the hope of building a greater connection with Allah. McCurry’s photographs in his new book range in emotion and capture sights taken from across decades of photography work. He captures traditions and religious practices that rarely are known about in western society. (Picture: Steve McCurry, 2013)

When asked about his favourite image, McCurry selected this image of a solitary monk taken in Aranyaprathet, Thailand. On recalling the photo, McCurry told Metro.co.uk: ‘I watched the changing light as the monks went about both the mundane and sacred duties of their day. With the simple use of wood and fabric, of shades of saffron from mustard gold to deep orange, their environment was serene. The patient cat completed the scene of contemplation and peace.’ (Picture: Steve McCurry, 1999)

Women mourn in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. For almost four decades, McCurry travelled to the country regularly, documenting its people with a rare and disarming humanity. He saw first hand the impact of the war and the evolution of the Taliban. Bamiyan – where US and New Zealand forces were based between 2003 and 2013. On 15 August 2021, Bamyan was seized by Taliban fighters, becoming the twenty-ninth provincial capital to be captured as part of the wider 2021 Taliban offensive (Picture: Steve McCurry, 2007)

McCurry shot devotion in all forms during his time as a photographer. This picture shows a doctor tending to a premature baby in Jaipur India. Speaking ahead of his book release, McCurry told Metro: ‘This may be my most important book because it involves action, not just good feelings, sympathy, or intentions. Devotion brings out the very best of the human spirit and offers purpose and meaning in one’s life.’ (Picture: Steve McCurry, 2008)

Here we see a group of men devoted to the Kathakali, a popular and traditional south Indian dance. McCurry spent years travelling through the country of India – taking in the Ganesh festival on Chowpatty beach in Mumbai, taking photos at the Kolkata railway station before dawn to the flower markets of Kashmir, and roaming the streets of Old Delhi with his trusty camera (Picture: Steve McCurry, 1996)

Grover Gauntt – founding teacher of the Zen peacemaker movement – meditates at entrance to the Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp. Historians estimate that 1,1 million people perished in Auschwitz during the less than five years of its existence in Nazi-occupied Poland. After capturing the poignant image, he told McCurry: ‘Evil is in each of us. Each of us has to face it, own it, deal with it.’ (Picture: Steve McCurry, 2005)

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami caused death and destruction in 14 countries near the Indian ocean. In this image, a man prays at the site of a temple in Kathaluwa, Sri Lanka which washed away during the floods. More than 250,000 people lost their lives as a result of the national disaster (Picture: Steve McCurry, 2004)

Crowds captured at the Kumbh Mela Festival in Prayagraj, formerly Allahabad, in India. The festival is the largest peaceful congregation of pilgrims on earth, during which participants bathe or take a dip in a sacred river. Devotees believe that by bathing in the Ganges one is freed from sins liberating them from the cycle of birth and death.The festival is attended by millions of people irrespective of caste, creed or gender.(Picture: Steve McCurry, 2001)

Another image from the Kumbh Mela Festival, this one taken in 2013. Striking pictures such as this are higlighted across the pages of Steve McCurry’s new book – out today.He told Metro: ‘This book explores the impact and evidence of devotion in action.’ (Picture: Steve McCurry, 2013)

Devotion by Steve McCurry is published by Prestel, £50. Find outmore at www.prestel.com

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Ever since his famous 1984 portrait, Steve McCurry has travelled the world to capture thought-provoking imagery