"Afghan girl" with green eyes is a symbol of the suffering of a whole generation of women and children

This Afghan woman became famous thanks to photographer Steve McCurry, who took a picture of her face when she was still a little girl. It happened during the Soviet-Afghan war, when Gula was in a refugee camp on the border with Pakistan.

She was born approximately in 1972. Why such an approximate date? About this and about who such an Afghan girl with green eyes, about the events concerning Afghanistan in the late 70's and early 80's, you can find out in this article.

About photography

The photo that the people named "The Afghan Girl" received is very famous. She is sometimes compared to the portrait of the famous Mona Lisa, the artist Leonardo da Vinci, and is therefore often referred to as the "Afghan Mona Lisa."

A photo of a mysterious girl with a surprisingly piercing look of unusual green eyes has long been the object of close attention of the whole society.

What does an Afghan girl think about the photo? What in her eyes? Confusion, fear or anger? Looking at the face of this girl, each time you can discover for yourself something new. This is the secret of the popularity of photography. The girl's face always remains in the memory of the people who saw it, because it carries ambiguity.

It became a kind of symbol of the Afghan refugee problem. McCarry himself said that for the past 17 years there was practically no day when he did not receive any electronic message, a letter, etc., about his work. Many wanted to help this girl, send money or adopt. Were wishing and marrying her.

The image was widely replicated and published: on postcards, posters, in magazines, etc. Most major publications used photos on the covers of their magazines. Even on T-shirts there were prints with her picture.

Afghan girl Sarbat Gula: biography, the meaning of the name

Much has been written about the history of the girl. By nationality, Sharbat is an Afghan (Pashtunka). She does not know her exact birthday, like the year, because she was an orphan. After her family died, she was sent to the Pakistani refugee camp Nasir Bagh. Since that time she has not learned to read, but she can write her name.

An Afghan girl married in the late 1980s for a simple baker Ramat Gul and returned with her family back home in 1992 to Afghanistan. In total, Sharbat now has 3 daughters: Robin, Alia and Zahid. There was also the 4th daughter, but she died soon after birth. The woman hopes that her children, in comparison with her, will get a good education, learn to read and write. Sharbat herself had no opportunities for this. Now she is over 40 years old.

This woman did not even suspect that she had become famous, how much she had written about her piercing look. However, according to her stories, a white man was photographed in her memory. She never again acted in a life, especially in a year after that well-known shooting she began to wear a veil.

The name of the Afghan girl (Sharbat Gula) in translation means "floral sherbet".

A little about the author of the photo

This photo was made by a well-known professional in his field, journalist-photographer Steve McCurry in a refugee camp in Pakistan (Nasir Bagh).

In 1984, Steve McCurry (National Geographic), along with Debray Denker collected material on the Soviet-Afghan war. They, having penetrated into Afghanistan, visited the refugee camps, which on the Afghan-Pakistani border were huge. The photographer intended to reflect the situation of refugees from the point of view of women and children.

In 1985, a 13-year-old Afghan girl with green eyes was presented on the cover of one of the magazines (National Geographic).

History of photography

One morning, photographer McCarrie, walking through the camp of Nasir Bagh, saw a tent in which there was a school. He asked the teacher for permission to photograph several students (there were only about 20 of them). She let me.

Attention attracted him the gaze of a girl. He asked about her teacher. She said that the girl with the remaining relatives had been traveling for several weeks through the mountains after the helicopter fire of their village. Naturally, the little girl was having a hard time surviving this situation, because she lost the people closest to her.

McCarrie made a portrait of the Afghan girl Gula (his name he did not recognize then) on the color film, and without additional lighting.

This "photo shoot" took only a couple of minutes. And it was only after returning to Washington that McCurry understood what a wonderful shot he had made. The preparation of the photo (preprinted) was made by the art agent of Georgia (Marietta).

The photo was so heartfelt and hard to see that the photo editor of the National Geographic publisher did not want to use it at first, but eventually put it on the cover of the magazine with the signature "Afghan girl".

Life of Sharbat today

The fate of the heroine of the famous photo remained unknown for a long time. After McCarry again after a long search found her in 2002, something was revealed about how her difficult fate developed.

Life Sharbat is quite complicated. She married at the age of 13 (according to her recollections, and her husband believes that in 16). Every day before sunrise and after sunset, she always prays. Daily engaged in ordinary household chores: he carries water from a stream, erases, prepares food, cares for his children. The meaning of her life is children.

Her husband, Rahmat Gul, lives mostly in Peshevan, where there is a bakery in which he earns a little money.

Still there is a serious problem with health. Sharbat is sick with asthma, and this does not allow her to live in the city. It's better in the mountains. She lives with her family in the most warlike tribe (Pashtun), which at one time formed the backbone of the Taliban movement.

Afghan girl about herself and about those events

In 2002, led by Steve McCurry, a team was set up from the National Geographic magazine specifically to search for the same girl (before that, certain searches were also undertaken).

And so, soon a new picture was taken, but already grown up Sharbat: in a long garment, a woman's burka and with a raised hood (with the permission of her husband). Again, the lens captured the eyes of an Afghan girl, who had already grown up.

In her opinion, she survived according to God's will. She believes that her family under the Taliban lived better than under numerous bombings.

She also says that Americans are ruining their lives, as the Russians once broke. People, in her opinion, are tired of wars, invasions and blood loss. As soon as the country has a new leader, the people of Afghanistan find hope for a better, brighter, but each time they are deceived and disappointed.

Also, Sharbat expressed dissatisfaction with the very same children's photo: do you see there she was shot in a shawl with a hole, which she still remembers, as she burned it over the stove.

Conclusion

The beautiful face of the girl with her bewitching look speaks of hidden excitement at the same time with determination, steadfastness and dignity. Although it is clear that she is poor, she has a genuine nobility and strength. And most importantly, in her eyes, you can see the whole burden of the suffering and torment that the simple, long-suffering Afghan people suffer.