An honorary master’s degree in Anthropology and Languages of the Image will be conferred on Steve McCurry, the celebrated U.S. photographer born in Philadelphia in 1950, at the 11th edition of the Siena Awards Photo Festival, one of the most influential international events dedicated to photography and visual storytelling. The award will be presented on Wednesday, Sept. 24, by the Department of Social, Political and Cognitive Sciences of the University of Siena, during an official ceremony to be held at 11 a.m. in the Aula Magna of the Rector’s Office, in the presence of Rector Roberto Di Pietra.
The conferral is intended to highlight not only the extraordinary expressive and narrative power of McCurry’s work, but also the profound anthropological impact of his photographs, which restore, through the image, humanity in its many nuances. His photographs tell faces, places and stories of the world, transcending cultural and geographical boundaries, and contributing to the construction of a shared visual memory.
The Teaching Council of the Master’s Degree Program in Anthropology and Languages of the Image has recognized in McCurry’s language a fundamental contribution to contemporary anthropological reflection. From the representation of relationships with nature to the narration of fragile, marginal or crisis-scarred realities, the photographer has been able to give visibility to often ignored worlds, using the aesthetic and communicative potential of photography to stimulate collective consciousness and the global imagination.
His work embodies the idea of an inclusive and critical ethnographic humanism, in which photography becomes a tool for knowledge and empathy. One need only think of the famous portrait Afghan Girl, taken in a refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan, which has become one of the world’s most recognizable images and a symbol of the communicative power of photography, not least because of its publication on the cover of National Geographic in June 1985.
In the Festival calendar, McCurry will also be the protagonist of one of the most anticipated events: on Friday, September 26, from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m., he will participate in the meeting Passion and Storytelling - A Conversation with Steve McCurry, as part of the SIPA TALKS program. A public dialogue to explore the genesis of his most famous images, the role of personal involvement in the photographic process, the relationship with the subjects portrayed and the subtle alchemy between composition, light, color and emotion.
The collaboration between the Siena Awards Photo Festival and the University of Siena reinforces the city’s role as a point of reference for contemporary visual culture.
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| Siena Awards Photo Festival, Siena University will confer honorary master's degree on Steve McCurry |
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