Afghan Girl

A portrait of Sharbat Gula made by photographer Steve McCurry in 1984 and published on the June 1985 cover of National Geographic. Its direct gaze and vivid green eyes made it one of the magazine’s most recognizable images.

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Steve McCurry: An American photojournalist known for images of conflict, travel, and everyday life, including Afghan Girl. He photographed Sharbat Gula at a refugee camp in Pakistan in 1984.
Photojournalism: The practice of reporting news and events through photographs. The image’s publication made a documentary portrait part of international news coverage.
Face recognition: The identification or verification of people by analyzing distinctive features of their faces. Facial comparison helped National Geographic locate Gula in Afghanistan in 2002.
Documentary photography: Photography intended to record people, places, or events as evidence or social documentation. The portrait began as documentary reporting before becoming an enduring media icon.
National Geographic: An American magazine founded in 1888 that publishes reporting and photography about geography, science, history, and culture. Its June 1985 cover brought the portrait to a global audience.
Ethics of photojournalism: Principles governing accuracy, consent, privacy, and harm in reporting through photographs. The portrait’s later fame prompted scrutiny of how its subject was identified and represented.
National Geographic Society: A nonprofit organization founded in 1888 that supports exploration, research, education, and media production. The Society organized the 2002 search that identified Gula as the portrait’s subject.
Portrait photography: Photography that depicts a person or group, often emphasizing identity or character. The image’s concentrated gaze gives a single-person portrait the reach of a public symbol.
Nasir Bagh refugee camp: A refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan, that housed Afghans displaced by the Soviet-Afghan War. McCurry made the portrait at this camp while reporting on Afghan refugees.
Representation of refugees: The ways refugees are depicted and interpreted in media, art, and public discourse. The portrait became an unusually recognizable image through which audiences imagined Afghan displacement.