Steve McCurry:

American photojournalist Steve McCurry is an acclaimed freelance photographer and photo-journalist, with his work appearing all over the globe. He's won numerous awards for his photography including Magazine Photographer of the Year, given by the National Press Photographer Association. Originally planned to study cinematography and filmmaking, As a socially conscious photographer he often takes pictures of people in their natural environments, constantly bringing awareness to any social issues that arise from his images. From homelessness, to the triumph of the human spirit under desperate situations, he documents them all with a carefully conscious hand that makes you think.

 Bangkok, Thailand, 2004

This peace by McCurry, from his "Outsiders" series, captures the spirit of capitalism. It depicts homeless with no shoes, sleeping on the stairs of a McDonald, with the statue of Ronald McDonald above him. Now this seemingly innocuous picture might be what you see in the streets of any populated city in the U.S. But the difference is quite astounding when you look closer, you can see that the man is getting stepped on by the statue of Ronald McDonald, as Ronald smiles and waves cheerly. A good representation of how capitalisms, a tool of control for the powerful, will happily smile in your face as you suffer from never truly having enough to support yourself or your family. Keeping the low man lower than he realizes he fully is, unaware and unconscious to the true realities for which he lives in.  A powerful image not for the composition but for the message that arises from such thought provoking imagery.

Barcelona, Spain, 2018.

The La Mercè festival, in Barcelona is one of the most popular festivals in the world and one of the oldest, and this image is the start of one of its most popular activities there, the human tower. I chose this image, from his "Leaving Home" series, because of what it symbolizes. The coming together of humanity to celebrate life and love. A great contrast from a lot of McCurry's other works, the image evokes, friendship and unity, with incredible framing of the hands and leading lines directing you to the center of the image, looking like a human wave of solidarity. It is also a great contrast from the vivid reds you see in the picture to the actions taking place. With reds always symbolizing violence or danger, but you can tell no one is in true danger yet as they work as a team to form this monument of human cooperation. Trusting in each other to keep them up as they climb and catch them when fall. A really wonderful image taken at breath taking angle.

There were so many eye opening works to choose from, but these sometimes simple pictures can have so much context if you only look deeper than just the surface. Really is what drew me to them. They caught my eye then it challenged me to ask questions that I needed answer. I really do like photography that can do that with little effort.