Steve McCurry, a Penn State alumnus, is one of the most renowned photographers of our time who has had his work displayed in countless books, magazines, newspapers, etc. He is most famous however for his photograph of Sharbat Gula, or as most of the world knows her, “The Afghan Girl”. Unfortunately, McCurry has come under fire for a recent botched photograph that shows careless and blatant use of photoshop. This image has since sparked up controversy, as more and more visibly altered photographs have been discovered on McCurry’s website. These findings have stirred up a debate on the ethical aspect of professional photographers using photoshop to enhance or alter their images. Personally, I believe there is absolutely nothing wrong with a photographer …show more content…
In a Ted Talk last year McCurry stated, “I believe that the picture should reflect exactly what you saw and experienced when you took the picture. I don’t think you should have any adjustments in terms of photoshop […] and I want to just capture life as it is without really interfering and I want it to reflect reality.” (1) In this statement McCurry is literally condemning the very act that he has been caught doing. For an individual to claim that they are against something in public and then perform that act behind closed doors is undoubtedly unethical. In addition, McCurry is also specifically targeting photoshop in this statement, which is in fact the same program he used to alter his photos. Moreover, Steve McCurry has also been accused of staging his pictures to capture a certain moment. Satish Sharma, an Indian photographer has recently claimed that he is, “not at all surprised at the digital manipulation (done by McCurry) to create the perfect frame. [He has] watched [Steve] rig (stage) his pictures.” (2) This is another example of Steve McCurry claiming to believe in one thing and then doing another thing behind closed doors. He preaches that a photograph should capture what an individual is seeing and experiencing at the moment. However, when it comes to taking his own professional photographs, McCurry will go out of his way to stage an event just to capture an idea in his head. Furthermore, Steve