Representation in photography is how a photograph can portray a place or person in a certain way by the way or how that photograph is taken. In  photography presentation should always be questioned as to whether or not it is accurate. Photographs can be staged or photographers can capture moments that are accidents, uncommon occurrences cropped or edited in a way that creates a different situation within the frame making it different to how it was actually seen by the photographer.

This sort of idea and belief about photographers misrepresenting their photographs has arisen concerning the work of Steve McCurry; some critics have been dismissing his work as too beautiful, making the photographs look romanticised, he is particularly famous for his his portrait of an Afghan girl with vivid green eyes, printed on the cover of National Geographic in June 1985, is one of the iconic images of the 20th century. His images have been released displaying evidence that McCurry alters his photos quite considerable in the editing process. There is also criticism that he only documents the beautiful parts of India that satisfy the cultural stereotypes that the western has towards exotic countries such as India. This is to eventually sell his images to get money, not thinking about how the people from India would have felt to be portrayed in this way. McCurry’s work has also been criticised to be a form of cultural appropriation because he is essentially borrowing the most beautiful, aesthetically pleasing and exotic looking people and places  to the western eye. I feel that there is nothing wrong with borrowing elements from different cultures is said culture is presented accurately and treated with respect. Steve McCurry does seem to treat foreign culture with respect but he is not representing them accurately and also produces these images to make money.

Photo by Steve McCurry 

Teju Cole wrote about Steve McCurry in the New York Times Magazine describing Steve McCurry’s work in a somewhat condescending way, suggesting that McCurry’s photographs simply reinforce  “old ideas of what photographs of Indians should look like” to the western world as previously stated. Cole also claims that one can identify a McCurry photograph almost immediately due to their predictable nature of his portraits In McCurry’s portraits, supposedly the typical McCurry formal is that “the subject looks directly at the camera, wide-eyed and usually marked by some peculiar­ity, like pale irises, face paint or a snake around the neck.” and for the most part I would have to agree with Cole. However, he goes onto to say that his images are “staged or shot to look as if they were. They are astonishingly boring.” I can justify the opinion that photographs appear to be somewhat manipulated by the end products are in no way boring. Although McCurry’s work does not show an accurate representation of life in India he does capture beautiful rarities that are genuinely found, and this should not go unsaid. Steve McCurry is an incredibly talented photographer who travels to foreign lands and selects a “highlight reel” or magnificent, rare and beautiful things that are simply not found elsewhere. What McCurry chooses to document may not be typical Indian life but then not everybody in England lives like the cast of “Made in Chelsea” or David Attenborough which are what the rest of the world are exposed to as what life in Britain in like.

This is completely different to his perspective of Raghubir Singh, who is seen to show India as it is and how the locals would perspective their home as it is a more real side of India that we do not see in Steve McCurry’s work. He also thinks it is a “relief” that we can move on from McCurry’s images to photographers such as  Raghubir Singh who bring “not only beautiful experiences or painful scenes but also those in-between moments of drift that make up most of our days”. This is more true. Steve makes India look like an enlightening place to visit, shown through colour and laughter, this contrasts with Raghubir Singh’s photography as it can be quite distressing and upsetting, showing all sides of India, documenting not just the beautiful, eye-catching parts.

Photos by Raghubir Singh

However, another article I read, written by Allen Murabayashi defends McCurry’s work although does not deny that some of his images are staged or altered as there is clear evidence of this available to public. He does however state that amazing photos with perfect composition can be captured by luck, providing the example of the famous 9/11  photo of the world trade centre collapsing behind Saint Peter’s church by James Nachtwey. This is a fair argument as Steve McCurry spent many years of his life as a ” highly skilled photographer taking 250,000 images over the course of 3-6 months for an assignment” and also had access professional photo editor, Murabayashi asks whether or not “anyone be surprised that the photos are exceptional?”

I completely agree with Murabayashi’s view that Steve McCurry is an exceptional photographer and that there is nothing wrong with wanted to document the most beautiful elements of a certain country. However, Steve McCurry’s photos were often featured in prestigious, factual publications such as “National Geographic” and as many of his photos are staged , this leads to the question of whether McCurry is presenting countries such as India in a factual way to the western world. The iconic picturesque view of the Taj Mahal, with two turbaned gentleman casually draped over the front of a passing train is without a doubt a beautiful image but also completely staged. McCurry selected the two gentleman in the image because they satisfied the Indian stereotypes he wanted to fulfill and the train was sent back down the tracks by McCurry when he was not satisfied with the focus of the first image . This image is not an accurate representation of everyday life in India and as McCurry’s image are the only exposure to other cultures that some westerner’s experience if they are to be published in magazines such as the national geographic they should be genuine.