Everybody Has a Story
Kabul, Afghanistan
Sidon, Lebanon
Six billion of us walking the planet, six billion smaller worlds
on the bigger one.
Six billion stories, every one an epic, full of tragedy and triumph,
good and evil, despair and hope.
- Dean Koontz
Baalbek, Lebanon
People are hungry for stories. It’s part of our very being.
Storytelling is a form of history, of immortality too.
It goes from one generation to another.
— Studs Terkel
Druze Elders, Lebanon
All human beings have an innate need to hear and tell stories and to have a story to live by.
-Harvey Cox
Rajasthan, India
Scientists who study the brain tell us that we are
hardwired for storytelling and
understanding the world through stories and metaphors.
Père Lachaise Cemetery, France
Shalimar Bagh, Kashmir
If history were taught in the form of stories,
it would never be forgotten
- Rudyard Kipling
Maimana, Afghanistan
…Without a story you have not got a nation, or culture, or civilization.
Without a story of your own, you haven’t got a life of your own.
—Laurens Van der Post
Poet Khalil Khoury, Iraq
People did not wait until there was writing before they told stories and sang songs.
— Albert Bates Lord
Golden Temple, Amritsar, India
Near Al Hudaydah, Yemen
Texas, USA
Their story, yours and mine — it’s what we all carry with us on this trip we take, and
we owe it to each other to respect our stories and learn from them.
— William Carlos Williams
Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, USA
Jimmy Swaggart, Louisiana
La Fortuna, Honduras
The universe is made of stories, not atoms.
— Muriel Rukeyser
Rajasthan, India
Flechtingen, Germany
Mike Wallace, 60 Minutes Interview, Beverly Hills Hotel, USA
We are lonesome animals.
We spend all of our life trying to be less lonesome.
One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say and to feel
‘Yes, that is the way it is, or at least that is the way I feel it.’
You’re not as alone as you thought.
— John Steinbeck
Brazil
I will tell you something about stories, (he said)
They aren’t just entertainment.
Don’t be fooled.
They are all we have, you see,
All we have to fight off
illness and death
- Leslie Marmon Silko
Pristina, Kosovo
Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan
To be a person is to have a story to tell.
—Isak Dinesen
Vrindavan, India
Story behind the picture
The woman in the picture has been a widow for seventy years.
Her husband died when she was 14 years old.
Living in a community of widows since that time, she has made a living as one commissioned to pray for others.
After I made her picture, she invited me to join her for tea.
She spends her days in prayer for people who give her a few rupees.
She lives joyfully, and shows no sign of sorrow, self-pity, or resentment.
E X H I B I T I O N S
CHRIS BEETLES FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHS
3-5 Swallow Street
London W1B 4DE
September 7 –October 15, 2011
2525 Michigan Ave #A1
Santa Monica, CA 90404
September 10 – December 1, 2011
735 Main Avenue
Durango, CO
September 9 – December 14, 2011
Museum of Contemporary Art
Rome, Italy
December 1, 2011 – April 29, 2012
August 6, 2012 at 15:36
Superbe
January 27, 2012 at 15:41
Inspiring!!!!
January 4, 2012 at 21:34
The facts in a photo are as real as we make them, and wish them to be true or not. This photographer makes wonderful images, the full book of emotions including funny, reassuring, and mostly above that line that Agnes Martin talked about
November 26, 2011 at 06:01
Superb pics…I am big fan of yours.
November 6, 2011 at 11:55
breathtaking
October 25, 2011 at 02:22
Your photos are as evocative as many stories I can think of. What a privileged life you lead to have viewed and so wonderfully captured so much! Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed and thank you WP for drawing our attention to this site!
October 24, 2011 at 17:52
Thank you!
October 6, 2011 at 20:03
Great pictures all with there own stories..
September 30, 2011 at 14:52
What you’re saying is completely true. I know that everybody must say the same thing, but I just think that you put it in a way that everyone can understand. I also love the images you put in here. They fit so well with what you’re trying to say. I’m sure you’ll reach so many people with what you’ve got to say.
September 28, 2011 at 15:57
[...] by the latest Steve McCurry post. He’s the man. Period. Share this:TwitterFacebookEmailLike this:LikeBe the first to like this [...]
September 28, 2011 at 15:54
wonderful stories Steve!! So many of them!
September 27, 2011 at 22:44
I’ve been following your work since I was a little girl in the 80′s. Thank you for sharing your archives with us.
September 26, 2011 at 19:56
Well, as always it is a joy to catch up with your archive photography journal. Thank you for including a scene from Texas. And I had to laugh when I scrolled down to the image of Jimmy Swaggart. There is a story behind the inclusion of that one! smile
Best always,
Tammy
September 25, 2011 at 19:08
Again another impressive series.
Steve, I have seen you exhibition in Frankfurt in the English Theatre…really impressive.
September 25, 2011 at 16:28
true.. life seems to b incomplete without stories !!!
September 25, 2011 at 16:01
[...] http://stevemccurry.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/everybody-has-a-story/ Six billion of us walking the planet, six billion smaller worlds on the bigger one. Six billion stories, every one an epic, full of tragedy and triumph, good and evil, despair and hope. – Dean Koontz [...]
September 25, 2011 at 01:41
[...] is a beautiful gallery of photographs from around the [...]
September 24, 2011 at 08:04
Awesome and poignant documentary photography as always, I’m a huge fan of your work. The shot of Marilyn Monroe walking along with Superman in Hollywood made me giggle in contrast with your wizened faces. Now that’s a story !!! ;0)
September 24, 2011 at 02:45
Love your photos and presentation
September 24, 2011 at 02:11
Moving, so humane. We need more people thinking of humans like you do. Thanks Mr. McCurry.
September 23, 2011 at 19:36
Another superb blog. I particularly like the photo from Rajasthan.
September 23, 2011 at 19:00
Nice Pictures
September 23, 2011 at 13:14
Always true. I have seen the same picture of the widow from Vrindavan India but her story first time here.
September 23, 2011 at 11:21
short stories last forever..
September 23, 2011 at 09:51
Superb photos
September 23, 2011 at 08:50
Steve, every post at your blog i want to print and stick to my wall.
September 23, 2011 at 06:50
So amazing, stories to tell, I’ll be looking for them when I photograph, thank you
September 23, 2011 at 04:16
Thank you for the story of the widow. Her purpose is surely magnificent.
September 23, 2011 at 03:23
you did it again, Sir!
September 23, 2011 at 03:06
speechless as always!
September 22, 2011 at 22:38
Excelente secuencia, se ve la pasion por lo sencillo, con un resultado fantastico!
September 22, 2011 at 22:23
How true! We all have our stories to tell! Pictures could say a lot and now, ‘ am so excited to write mine! Thanks Mr. Mc Curry for your blog that is simply but greatly touching!
September 22, 2011 at 21:20
Fantasticas, que ideia maravilhosa, todos nós temos historias para contar, mesmo que nao falemos nada, basta um gesto um olhar.
abraços do Brazil
Milton
September 22, 2011 at 21:20
Mr McCurry you have turned the obvious to be true!
September 22, 2011 at 21:09
breath-taking and moving..I feel a connection with this post..
September 22, 2011 at 21:07
Great Concept Sir, love the post. Simply Brilliant!
Regards,
Vivek
September 22, 2011 at 21:04
Mr Mc Curry I a big fan Congrats.