After graduating from Penn State 35 years ago, photographer Steve McCurry staked his claim to fame by shooting a notable photo of a young Afghan girl that was featured on a 1985 cover of National Geographic.
Now, his striking photograph of the girl, Sharbat Gula, positioned next to a later photograph to reflect the turmoil in her life during the years in between, holds wall space with 20th century era printmakers and photorealists at the Palmer Museum of Art.
McCurry's exhibit, Faces of Asia: Steve McCurry Photographs, is one of three featured galleries on display in the museum, and is slated to run through Aug. 16.
The other galleries, Aspects of Americana: Photorealist Prints from The Permanent Collection and Making Impressions: Printmakers of Philadelphia will be displayed through Aug. 9 and Sept. 13, respectively.
McCurry, Class of 1974, has been photographing international and civil conflicts for 25 years.
After graduating from Penn State with a degree in cinematography, he traveled to India for the first time in 1978 to begin his photojournalism career, according to a press release.
He was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the University in 2003, according to the release.
One of McCurry's most notable works is his photo of Gula, "Haunted Eyes Tell of an Afghan Refugee's Fears."
"We like that his work in Asia is divided into four sections: India, Cambodia, Afghanistan, and Tibet," said Joyce Robinson, an in-house curator in charge of the exhibit at the museum. "They're very powerful and compelling images -- particularly his 'Afghan Girl.' You're drawn into his images. The color is bold and saturated."
Because of this popular exhibit, the store at the Palmer Museum of Art has also been receiving some requests of its own.
Lynne McCormack, manager of the museum's store, said that it has sold out of some of Steve McCurry's books.
"We always try to carry merchandise that relates to the current collections," she said. "The notecards and postcards have also been popular, and we just got some Afghan jewelry."
Making Impressions: Printmakers of Philadelphia is a collection of Philadelphia artists' works from the 20th century. During this era, printmaking thrived at places such as the Philadelphia College of Art and the Graphic Sketch Club.
Printmakers also had the support of professional organizations such as the Philadelphia Sketch Club and Philadelphia Print Club, according to the release.
Patrick McGrady, a curator for the museum, said that printmaking was popular in the later part of the 19th century and the early 20th century. He said that one of the techniques often used in printmaking is called aquatint, which is a process where fine powder adheres to the plates used for etching of the photographs.
Ten different artists from this time period are featured, including Benton Spruance, a major lithographer at the time, McGrady said. His works include cityscapes and abstractions, and several of them are representative of places in Philadelphia.
The final feature exhibit at the museum this summer focuses on photorealism.
While realism in literature is more well known, photorealism is a different technique that developed out of Pop Art, McGrady said.
McGrady said that photorealism uses photography as a tool for highlighting "everyday, stringent material," such as diners and street signs, allowing the camera to capture the energy.
Photorealists focus on the normal and mundane as their subject matter in Aspects of Americana: Photorealist Prints from the Permanent Collection.
Artists John Baeder, Ron Kleemann, Charles Bell and Tom Blackwell are all featured in this exhibit, with many prints from a collection called Cityscapes.
"It makes us turn inward to be more conceptual about art," McGrady said.
