Serve others with love

Devotion brings out the very best of the human spirit, photo legend Steve McCurry tells Damien Demolder, and helps give purpose to our lives

It's getting on for 50 years since Steve McCurry started his career as a photojournalist on a state newspaper in Pennsylvania. In that time he has travelled the world's war zones and recorded conflicts and their effects for the world's biggest and most prestigious publications. He is probably best known for the picture of Sharbat Gula - known as 'Afghan Girl' - that graced the cover of National Geographic magazine in June 1985. The girl’s quiet pose and her piercing eyes made the image a worldwide sensation, and one of the most recognised images of the century. Steve has had a busy career since then, and his latest book, Devotion, shows images from his assignments and travels that neatly come together under this theme.

‘I’m drawn to human behavior,’ explains Steve. ‘How people interact on the street fascinates me, whether they are talking to a friend or a dog. What we do in life, how we work and play, all of the things that make up our lives, each of those components somehow has a story. I’m interested in how people use their lives, what they do with them.’

His new book, he says, is about selfless people who have some sort of higher calling in life. They might be people who are devoted to a loved one or a relative, or people who have a spiritual devotion. They might also be medical professionals or people in other walks of life who generally act out of love, compassion, and empathy, and in service to causes greater than themselves.

‘I’m always amazed at nurses who go out to Afghanistan and places like that,’ he continues. ‘They could have a comfortable life at home, but they go off to earn almost nothing caring for wounded, sick and diseased people. They do it out of some sort of devotion to humanity.