Caen. Steve McCurry featured at City Hall Summer Show
He is one of those artists whose name alone conjures up a multitude of mental images. Steve McCurry, an emblematic figure of contemporary photography, is at the heart of the summer exhibition organized from June 15 to September 15, 2022 at the town hall of Caen (Calvados). Entitled “ICONS”, it brings together 93 shots of McCurry, mainly landscapes and portraits, including his famous “Afghan girl with green eyes”.
An eye on the great world conflicts
Born in Philadelphia (United States) in 1950, Steve McCurry studied cinema at Pennsylvania State University before working for a local newspaper. Several years as a freelance photographer convinced him to continue in this direction and, in 1978, he left for India armed with a simple camera. It was during this trip that he managed to cross the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, thanks to the mujahideen troops. He is the first photographer to document the ongoing conflict since the Soviet invasion in December 1979.
Subsequently, McCurry dragged his lens over innumerable war zones: that, among others, which opposed Iran to Iraq in the 1980s, then the Gulf War and the former Yugoslavia in during the 1990s. Present in New York during the attacks of September 11, 2001, he captured the horror and chaos that affected his country to the heart.
Restore a “strong cultural vocation” to the town hall
In keeping with the thematic careers sought by Steve McCurry during his prolific career, “ICONS” is divided into four parts: conflict, “extinct cultures”, ancient traditions and contemporary culture. In addition to his photographs, six films, in the form of interviews, provide a new look at an exceptional artistic career.
Present at the unveiling of the exhibition, Joël Bruneau, Mayor of Caen, is delighted with this first Steve McCurry retrospective in Normandy: “ The town hall will find a strong cultural vocation “, he says. He salutes the work of this ” messenger of a suffering humanity “and despite everything” bringer of hope “. Emmanuelle Dormoy, deputy mayor in charge of culture and heritage, bets on the “ medium general public “that the photograph represents in order to attract the inhabitants” for anything other than administrative procedures “.
This is not the first time that the town hall has welcomed photographers within its walls: Tony Vaccaro was the subject of a retrospective in 2016, followed by Patrick Chauvel the following year. In 2021, it also hosted an exhibition dedicated to the 20th anniversary of September 11. With this new summer event, the town hall hopes to welcome at least 50,000 visitors and thus exceed 47,000 throughout 2021.
Price: €5 (visit of the abbey included), free for residents of Caen on presentation of proof of address.