Whose Photograph Is the Afghan Girl?

The Afghan Girl, one of the most recognizable photographs in the world, was taken by American photojournalist Steve McCurry in December 1984 at the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Pakistan during the Soviet-Afghan War. The subject, later identified as Sharbat Gula, was approximately 12 years old at the time. Her striking green eyes and intense expression captured global attention when the image appeared on the June 1985 cover of National Geographic. Gula's identity remained unknown for 17 years until McCurry and a National Geographic team found her again in 2002, confirmed through iris recognition technology. She was evacuated to Italy in 2021 following the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan.