Nearly everyone has seen photographer Steve McCurry’s striking 1985 National Geographic cover portrait of Afghan refugee Sharbat Gula, but it was nearly left on the cutting room floor. He revels the story behind the picture in his new book, “Untold: The Stories Behind the Photographs.” McCurry only took a handful of frames before the young girl got up. Editors at National Geographic came close to picking a different image for their cover, but made a change at the last minute.
The search for the mysterious “Afghan Girl,” whose haunting, green-eyed gaze captivated the world in a NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine cover photograph, takes EXPLORER on a world-wide journey in an attempt to solve the case of a missing person. In January 2002, photographer Steve McCurry, who took the 1984 photograph and has been searching for the girl ever since, traveled to Pakistan with a National Geographic EXPLORER team to search one last time. The refugee camp where the original encounter took place was about to be demolished. War in Afghanistan continues. The plight of refugees there and in Pakistan is worsening. Has the “Afghan Girl” survived? With a lot of detective work and a little luck, the EXPLORER team, together with McCurry, finds a woman who could be the “Afghan Girl.” How can they confirm that this is the same person as the child photographed nearly 20 years ago? National Geographic uses several methods, including state of the art iris recognition, the FBI facial recognition techniques and the technology used by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Sigourney Weaver narrates. Please don’t take this down, I’m only upoading because people need to see the whole story =) I do not own this movie, it is a product of National Geographic and Steve Mccurry Photography. Video Rating: 4 / 5
LIKE us on FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com FOLLOW us on TWITTER: @DevotionProj CHECK out the WEBSITE: www.thedevotionproject.org This is the first short film created for THE DEVOTION PROJECT, an ongoing series of films documenting LGBT couples and the love they share. This film premiered at Newfest NY Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in July 2011, where it took home the Audience Award for Best Short. It’s also won the Jury Award for Best Short Doc at Outfest in Los Angeles and at Polarifest/the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival. In addition, Rosie O’Donnell featured the film on her show on the OWN Network in November 2011. The other films in the series, “Say Only Yes”, “Listen from the Heart”, “My Person” and “Build Your Wings” are also available on this channel. Featuring William I. Campbell and John V. Hilton. Produced and Directed by Antony Osso, Director of Photography Martina Radwan, Editor Erica Freed Marker, Sound Mix by Chad Birmingham, Stills Photographer/Camera Assistant Nephi Niven, Music by Paul Hsu. Post Production Services provided by Post Factory NY. Copyright 2011 Antony Osso. Video Rating: 4 / 5
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