Afghanistan has long been a country overwhelmed by tribal rivalries, colonial wars, and geo-political conflict. The Afghans have called their mountains “the land of rebellion,” a land that has not been successfully occupied since the times of Alexander the Great. These invaders ― Persians, Arabs, Moguls, Sikhs, British, Russians ― may have been thwarted, but wandering through the bazaars of Kabul will attest to their legacy. In the people of Afghanistan, the genes of countless races meet and intermingle.

Deep are the fissures in Afghan society; the schism between Sunni and Shia, the endemic violence across clans and tribes, and the blood feuds and rivalries within lineages. Yet born of such chaos and entrenched conflict are these most breathtaking of images.

In this definitive retrospective of his work in Afghanistan, Steve McCurry has curated over 140 gripping images to present a torn, proud people, from the desert of Kandahar to the streets of Kabul and remote rivers of Nuristan. For almost four decades, McCurry traveled to the country regularly, documenting its people with a rare and disarming humanity. His most striking portrait Afghan Girl (1984) has graced the covers of magazines around the world, in equal parts haunting and evoking remarkable grace and dignity. In common with so much of McCurry’s work, it has a timeless, painterly quality―entirely at odds with the troubled region in which it was taken.

McCurry has always been subjected to dangers that are an inevitable part of life “on the road” for photographers. He often ventured behind the lines, usually at great risk. His first trip to Afghanistan in 1979 involved him dressing in Afghan garb in order to be smuggled across the border from Pakistan. That journey into the treacherous, unpredictable landscape ― territory controlled at various times by the , the Russians, and the Taliban ― was one that McCurry would make numerous times. Many other photographers would follow in his footsteps, but none would return with such a flawless body of work.

长期以来，阿富汗一直是一个饱受部落对抗、殖民战争和地缘政治冲突困扰的国家。阿富汗人称他们的山脉为“叛乱之地”，这片土地自亚历山帝时代以来就没有被功占领过。这些入侵者——波斯人、阿拉伯人、莫卧儿人、锡克人、英国人、俄罗斯人——可能已经被挫败，但在喀布尔的集市上徘徊将证明他们的遗产。在阿富汗人民中，无数种族的基因汇在一起。 阿富汗社会的裂痕很深；逊尼派和什叶派之间的分裂，跨部族和部落的地方性暴力，以及血统内部的血仇和竞争。然而，在这种混乱和根深蒂固的冲突中诞生的是这些令人惊叹的画面。 在这部关于他在阿富汗工作的性回顾中，史蒂夫·麦柯里策划了140多幅扣人心弦的图片，展示了一个从坎哈沙漠到喀布尔街头和努里斯坦偏远河流的饱经沧桑、自豪的民族。在将四十年的时间里，麦科里定期前往该国，记录该国人民罕见的、令人心旷神怡的人性。他引人注目的肖像《阿富汗女孩》（1984年）登上了世界各地杂志的封面，同样的部分萦绕在人们心头，唤起人们非凡的优雅和尊严。与麦柯里的许多作品一样，这部作品具有永恒的绘画风格——与拍摄时所处的动荡地区完全不符。 对于摄影师来说，麦卡里总是面临着生活中不可避免的危险。他经常冒着极的在幕后冒险。1979年，他次去阿富汗时他穿着阿富汗装，从巴基斯坦被偷运出境。麦科里将无数次地踏上通往变幻莫测、变幻莫测的土地的征程——这些土地在不同时期被圣战者、俄罗斯人和塔利班控制。许多其他摄影师也会追随他的脚步，但没有一个会带着如此的作品回来。