Steve McCurry opens up in Al Jazeera interview

"My parents were perplexed, bewildered and befuddled on how wild I was in my youth!" he tells Riz Khan

Steve McCurry was interviewed by Al Jazeera’s Riz Khan this week. The interview, which we've embedded below is 20 minutes long but speeds along nicely and is a great introduction to the work of one of Phaidon’s favourite photographers. 

In it we find out that Steve originally planned to be a history teacher – which he says, “would have been a disaster. I’m a restless person I want to move and work from my heart” and that his parents were “perplexed bewildered and befuddled at how wild” he was in his youth. 

He describes his dad as “very personable, good with people" - maybe one of the keys to his success - "I picked up a little of that. In photography that’s so key to getting access to the situation.” And he reserves a little spite for Paparazzi shots, calling them “the last rung on the photography ladder.” As we say, it’s a great introduction to his work and you can watch it below. If you want to go further after seeing it, you can do so here.