I think it's just that I've been looking at light and I've been taking pictures for 25 years, and I've strived to get a certain type of photograph and looking for certain kind of light.

How much time can pass until you find the suitable lighting for a shot that you want to take?

It can be just a moment, or you might see something and come back the next day or in the afternoon. But sometimes it happens very quickly, right at that moment.

American McCurry posing Madrid next to his well known photograph of the girl in the refugee camp in Afghanistan. The image shot to fame after appearing on the cover of National Geographic in June 1985.

Do you carry a bag of patience along with your camera ?

No, it's a kind of patience… [reflecting for a while] But the best word to describe it would be searching. Maybe patience implies being passive and inactive, maybe it's more searching, active searching.

Do you interact with the people and the scenery that you photograph, or is it all spontaneous?

It's spontaneous. There's a woman in the photo [referring to one of his photos], she's with a horse and she has this sort of raincoat. She was walking around this monastery and I followed her for maybe twenty minutes or half an hour… maybe more, and she was very spontaneous. I was looking for certain thing and it just took me a while to catch that.

© Steve McCurry Lhasa. Tibet.

There's another picture of Buddhist monks walking through the street with umbrellas and I just saw them by chance one night, and I followed them for, again, maybe half an hour, photographing different scenes, different backgrounds… waiting for the right moment. Is this the right moment? Is this the right moment? Shooting, shooting, shooting… And it took some time to find the right moment.

How long are you away from home while doing a report?

Maybe a month or six weeks at one time.

© Steve McCurry Lhasa. Tibet.

If you had less time, could you take such good photos, or does time limit creativity?

Well, with more time, you work more, so you have more chances to do a good work. In a week or two, sure [I would take good photos], but with more time, you can work more.

Have you got any advice or secrets you would like to share with beginners?

I don't have secrets. And some advice… maybe that [being a good photographer] it probably takes a lot more work than someone is prepared for. So be prepared to work. Simple as that.

© Steve McCurry Kabul. Afghanistan.

Many people remember the photo of the Afghan girl, but not so many know the photographer. Does it bother you that the picture is more well known than yourself?

I don't look at it that way. Even people who are not interested in photography know that picture. I feel I have a lot of recognition in my work. That picture is so famous that I'm sure a lot of people know the picture and do not know me, and I don't feel uncomfortable.

© Steve McCurry Kabul. Afghanistan. 1988.

The impacting image of that girl could have made many changes the way they see life. How do you feel about that?

I think it had a positive effect. I've received a lot of letters from people for years, and a lot of them have been inspired or got some benefit from the picture… Some people volunteered in refugee camps in Afghanistan.

Moving on to the more superficial part of your work, what equipment do you use?

I use a Nikon D2X digital camera and a Nikon F100 film camera, and I use mostly 50 millimetre lens, 35 millimetre lens… and sometimes 28 and maybe 85.

© Steve McCurry Kyaikto. Burma. 1994.

You combine digital with traditional, then.

Yes.

Do you have any objections to this new digital age?

No.

There is an urban legend that says that National Geographic photographers use four, five, ten, even twenty films just for one picture. Has digital photography changed your way of working?

No, that has nothing to do with taking good pictures. One picture or a million pictures is not going to make it any better. The question of how many pictures you take has nothing to do with taking good pictures.

© Steve McCurry Sitwe. Burma. 1994.

Does it bother you the crop factor that comes with using cameras that have APS size sensors?

Not at all.

© Steve McCurry Bombay. India.

Does it bother you at all that the top brand names which we are accustomed to are continually being updated?

It's not a problem; it's the world that we live in. Maybe technology is moving that fast, and we continue upgrading.

© Steve McCurry Rajasthan. India.

Have you noticed that the photographic myth of National Geographic and it's Leica has just gone out the window? You have mentioned nothing of this make.

Oh, they were a couple! I think now maybe there's one or two. Mostly it is Canon or Nikon. Few people use Leica.

Is the name Leica overestimated nowadays?

Maybe back in the thirties or forties there were very few good miniature cameras [referring to the Leica's in those days], and now there are a lot of good cameras, more sophisticated than they used to be. There's a lot more competition right now.

© Steve McCurry Agra. India.

How do you get on with the computer when it's time to retouch?

My assistants do that.

That's one of the advantages of having worked for so long.

That's true!

And on location, is the work of the assistants very important?

No, I do it all by myself. I do have an assistant if I work in a foreign country, as a translator, but I do all the camera work by myself.

© Steve McCurry Sahel. Africa.

Out of all the photos that you have taken, what's your favourite?

I like the sandstorm picture, because it's a very spontaneous picture. It's a kind of drama, with all these women altogether protecting themselves from the sandstorm. Yes, that's my favourite picture.

McCurry, next to his favourite photo.

Do you think that one day you will take a photo that you will never be able to better?

No, because life changes and you are always exploring new places, and when you go there you continue on learning. So I think it's good to keep looking and observing.