
There, he met a group of refugees from Afghanistan, who smuggled him across the border into their country, just as the Russian Invasion was closing the country to all western journalists.


It was after several months of travel that he found himself crossing the border into Pakistan. Traveling with little more than a bag of clothes and another of film, he made his way across the subcontinent, exploring the country with his camera. After several years of freelance work, McCurry made his first of what would become many trips to India. Born in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania McCurry studied film at Pennsylvania State University, before going on to work for a local newspaper.
