The Most Remarkable Photo

[ms da binsi]

Her beauty has touched me ever since the first time i saw her years ago...never erases in my memory since then.




Afghan girl, taken in 1984
NGS Photographer Steve Mc Curray

Tattered clothing and fear filled eyes of an Afgan refugee reveal war-zone trauma.During Afghanistan foray, Mc Curray faced Soviet helicopters flying "low like a swarm of hornets...rocketing and strafing everything that moved."-National Geographic Society

[hazel]

Her eyes says it all!

[ms da binsi]

isnt she a real beauty?

[Lorenzo]

The epitome of Indo-Aryan beauty.

[hazel]

As if it says ,touch me not.

[kiamoy]

hi ms da binsi. i got hooked watching nationalgeographic's documentary film in finding this girl..happy to let you see her pic now as a woman..
her name is Sharbat Gula


photographer:

[kiamoy]

How They Found National Geographic's "Afghan Girl"

She was one of the world's most famous faces, yet no one knew who she was. Her image appeared on the front of magazines and books, posters, lapel pins, and even rugs, but she didn't know it. Now, after searching for 17 years, National Geographic has once again found the Afghan girl with the haunting green eyes.

The mysterious Afghan girl whose direct gaze has intrigued the West for so long is Sharbat Gula. She lives in a remote region of Afghanistan with her husband and three daughters.

Sharbat was located nearly two decades after her picture appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1985. She had no idea her face had become an icon, said Steve McCurry, the photographer who made the famous portrait for National Geographic in 1984, and who tried to find her again during many subsequent trips he made to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

McCurry's photo of the girl was selected as the cover of National Geographic 100 Best Pictures.

In January 2002, a National Geographic team returned to the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Pakistan, where Sharbat Gula was originally photographed, to search for her. She was identified through a series of contacts that led to her brother and husband, who agreed to ask her if she was willing to be interviewed.

Sharbat has been photographed on only two occasions: in 1984 and at the reunion with Steve McCurry this year. She had never seen her famous portrait before it was shown to her in January.

"This is the face that so captivated not only National Geographic readers but also anyone who saw her image around the world," said Boyd Matson, host of the National Geographic television show EXPLORER, who was with the group that met with Gula.

"We've known her face, but we've not known her story, not even her name," he said.

Final Search

National Geographic set out to make one last concerted effort to find the "Afghan girl" before the refugee camp in Pakistan where she had last been seen was demolished. From the camp, the trail wound through several villages and into at least one dead end, until someone recognized the girl on the cover of National Geographic and said he knew her brother.


Because Sharbat Gula lives a traditional Muslim life behind the veil, she was not allowed to meet men outside her family. But the Geographic team was given permission to send a female associate producer to meet Sharbat and photograph her face.

Matson said that when he compared the photograph of the woman with that of the girl, he was certain it was the same person. "The irises of the eyes, the moles and scar on the faceâ€"all indicated this was the person we were looking for," he said.

Still, to make sure Sharbat Gula was the girl who had been photographed 17 years earlier, the EXPLORER team obtained verification through iris-scanning technology and face-recognition techniques used by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

After Sharbat's family granted permission for her to meet with the man who photographed her 17 years ago, McCurry knew immediately, even after so many years, that he had found her again. "Her eyes are as haunting now as they were then," he said.

"She remembered me, primarily because she had never been photographed before I made the image of her in 1984, or since then," he said.

Sharbat Gula recalled the experience of being photographed as a child, she told McCurry, because she remembered how her head covering was full of holes after being scorched by a cooking fire.

When they met again, McCurry told Sharbat her image had become famous as a symbol of the Afghan people. "I don't think she was particularly interested in her personal fame," McCurry said. "But she was pleased when we said she had come to be a symbol of the dignity and resilience of her people."

The award-winning photographer said his original image of Sharbat had seized the imagination of so many people around the world because her face, particularly her eyes, expressed pain and resilience as well as strength and beauty.

Sharbat Tells Her Story

When Sharbat agreed to have her picture taken for the second time in her life, she came out from the secrecy of her veil to tell her story. She wanted the people around the world who knew her face to know that she survived the refugee camp in Pakistan.

She married and had four daughters, one of whom died in infancy. She lives in obscurity, according to the customs and traditions of her culture and religion.

A member of the Pashtun ethnic group in Afghanistan, Sharbat said she fared relatively well under Taliban rule, which, she feels, provided a measure of stability after the chaos and terror of the Soviet war.

According to Matson and McCurry, Sharbat Gula has returned to anonymity; the latest publicity about her name and face is unlikely to draw attention to her in Afghanistan. "She will not give another media interview and she wishes not to be contacted," Matson said. Her family has relocated to a different village in a remote part of Afghanistan, where she will continue to live her life in purdah, he added.

Asked if Sharbat would benefit financially from her famous image, Matson said she was "being looked after."

"Clearly she has become a symbol that National Geographic has used to illustrate the circumstances of refugees like her, and many people have inquired about her," he said. "She stood for an entire group of refugees, not just Afghan refugees. She has helped us with our mission of educating people about other cultures and regionsâ€"and she's helping us again by drawing attention to the lives of Afghan women and girls in general."

-nationalgeographic

[orChids]

Nanglibawot akong balhibo oy.She reminds me of my black cat Wakwak when she got scared.Yet she has the beauty like Venus.

[orChids]

Thanks Kiamoy for the information too.

[kiamoy]

fragile kay cya no? fragile nga yagit..
luoya nila uy..all her life refugee..

[ms da binsi]

hi ms da binsi. i got hooked watching nationalgeographic's documentary film in finding this girl..happy to let you see her pic now as a woman..
her name is Sharbat Gula


photographer:

hahahha

Kiams i was fascinated by her too...yeah that was her.

[B:)]

Her beauty has touched me ever since the first time i saw her years ago...never erases in my memory since then.




Afghan girl, taken in 1984
NGS Photographer Steve Mc Curray

Tattered clothing and fear filled eyes of an Afgan refugee reveal war-zone trauma.During Afghanistan foray, Mc Curray faced Soviet helicopters flying "low like a swarm of hornets...rocketing and strafing everything that moved."-National Geographic Society

If I'm not mistaken, this photo was a cover in Times Magazine. And that's how she became famous. Then kiamoy's post about her was viewed  years later.

[Happy]

It's amazing, she became famous without even knowing it.

[ms da binsi]

Her beauty has touched me ever since the first time i saw her years ago...never erases in my memory since then.




Afghan girl, taken in 1984
NGS Photographer Steve Mc Curray

Tattered clothing and fear filled eyes of an Afgan refugee reveal war-zone trauma.During Afghanistan foray, Mc Curray faced Soviet helicopters flying "low like a swarm of hornets...rocketing and strafing everything that moved."-National Geographic Society

If I'm not mistaken, this photo was a cover in Times Magazine. And that's how she became famous. Then kiamoy's post about her was viewed  years later.

That is very tru Beth and they earned so much money for this cover more than their usual kay many people rally bought this issue because of her mysterious beauty...dont you know nga ug ma cover ang photgraph would cost millions for the photographer and millions more for the magazine, unya wa jud shay gamay nga share! o well...

[kiamoy]

sa n.g. mag cya te..

[grazie7y]

Her beauty has touched me ever since the first time i saw her years ago...never erases in my memory since then.




Afghan girl, taken in 1984
NGS Photographer Steve Mc Curray

Tattered clothing and fear filled eyes of an Afgan refugee reveal war-zone trauma.During Afghanistan foray, Mc Curray faced Soviet helicopters flying "low like a swarm of hornets...rocketing and strafing everything that moved."-National Geographic Society

If I'm not mistaken, this photo was a cover in Times Magazine. And that's how she became famous. Then kiamoy's post about her was viewed  years later.

That is very tru Beth and they earned so much money for this cover more than their usual kay many people rally bought this issue because of her mysterious beauty...dont you know nga ug ma cover ang photgraph would cost millions for the photographer and millions more for the magazine, unya wa jud shay gamay nga share! o well...

I can see strength in her eyes, not fear.  She is so determined to survive.  She is so beautiful though with those haunting eyes!

[ms da binsi]

Ay mao na Tiya, strenght dili fear!

no fear jud sha oi! huy ang ijang banana guwang kaajo!

[grazie7y]

Asa ka kita sa iyang bana dear?

[ms da binsi]

sa NGS nga book.

di pa jud unta mo sugot pa hulagway!

shalan gud na ilang mga lalaki oi!

[grazie7y]

Mao ba? Hadlok siguro ma discover!

[ms da binsi]

ahaa! mao!

[hazel]

Her beauty has touched me ever since the first time i saw her years ago...never erases in my memory since then.




Afghan girl, taken in 1984
NGS Photographer Steve Mc Curray

Tattered clothing and fear filled eyes of an Afgan refugee reveal war-zone trauma.During Afghanistan foray, Mc Curray faced Soviet helicopters flying "low like a swarm of hornets...rocketing and strafing everything that moved."-National Geographic Society

If I'm not mistaken, this photo was a cover in Times Magazine. And that's how she became famous. Then kiamoy's post about her was viewed  years later.

That is very tru Beth and they earned so much money for this cover more than their usual kay many people rally bought this issue because of her mysterious beauty...dont you know nga ug ma cover ang photgraph would cost millions for the photographer and millions more for the magazine, unya wa jud shay gamay nga share! o well...

I can see strength in her eyes, not fear.  She is so determined to survive.  She is so beautiful though with those haunting eyes!

Graz, confirmed na gyud. You are good in reading eyes expression. I remember when you told me what was inside my heart the first time you saw my pic.

[kiamoy]

unsa kaha inside sa heart ni ate..hmm makita pa diay imo mata te? hehe!

[Vito Andoline]

silaw man ang iyang mata mura ug makasunog.

[kiamoy]

murag kaleidoscope

[Sigbin II]

I can see strength in her eyes, not fear.  She is so determined to survive.  She is so beautiful though with those haunting eyes!

I agree.  It isn't fear but fire.

[Vito Andoline]

matabang ug fire kung magda ko ug  kabo na may sud tubig.pilay pagsablig.lol

[ms da binsi]

wa

matabang ug fire kung magda ko ug  kabo na may sud tubig.pilay pagsablig.lol

pakatok ra jud na imoha perme Vits!

hahahhaha

[C2H4]

She looks like the Olsen twins, particularly Mary Kate.

[kiamoy]

haha..resemblance sa eyes c2 no?

[ms da binsi]

bwhahahahha! huy buhay Ka?

Thanks Heavens gidan-agan ra jud imong hunahuna sa pagbalik!

Even I knew nga nag review ka!

Biyai nang review usahay kay mo nay maka bugto sa atong panaghigalaay!

hahahahahhha

[C2H4]

^you know me ms belle, kung naa gani away away ganahan man ko, kay tsismosa baya ko

I don't want to miss the fun. Sayang lang kay na lock naman ang mga threads, nauwahi ko.

hehehe

[ms da binsi]

mAO na kay absenot man gud ka!

bwahahahahhahha

[hazel]

unsa kaha inside sa heart ni ate..hmm makita pa diay imo mata te? hehe!

hmmp! ngita ka'g bikil?!

[kiamoy]

ayaw, ma lock ang thread! haha. inchik!

[hazel]

ayaw, ma lock ang thread! haha. inchik!

hey! preho ta no, parente baya ta. hmp!

OT nata. LOL!

[Vito Andoline]

murag salida atong smallville pag nangisog ingon ana ang mata

[mochajava]

maka melt man ia stare. teehee.

[kiamoy]

intimidating nga yagit..murag c gamai

[mochajava]

agi.agi.