National

A frozen gaze that will launch a fund

By G. Ananthakrishnan

Sharbat Gula, in 1985 and now, in the striking portraits produced by National Geographic. — AP

CHENNAI March 13. Life in Afghanistan as seen through the eyes of Sharbat Gula, whose haunting portrait appeared on the cover of National Geographic (NG) 17 years ago, is the theme of a major series being launched by the NG Society this month and an international fund-raising effort.

Sharbat's wide-eyed frozen gaze on the magazine cover and in other publications was described as ``the most recognised photograph'' in the 114-year history of National Geographic. After a long period, when everyone was left wondering who she was, Sharbat will again be featured in the various media of the Society, and her story will help raise money for Afghan women and children through an Afghan Girls Fund created by NGS.

On March 24, the NG Channel India will air a television documentary on how she was located by Steve McCurry, the same photographer who made her portrait in 1984, nearly two decades later. Though millions of people saw her portrait in print, Sharbat never saw it herself, until January this year.

It is not just a walk down memory lane for McCurry, who found the Pashtun woman now married and living with children in a remote region of Afghanistan. Science served the cause of accuracy, by lending such techniques as ``iris recognition'' and ``FBI facial recognition technique'', to determine that it was the same person. The Society is looking at Sharbat's saga as a ``metaphor for all refugees''. The Editor-in-Chief of the Magazine, William L. Allen, says the portrait of the Afghan woman will again appear on the cover of the April issue of the magazine, and her life will be the focus of a story. Interestingly, Sharbat has been photographed only twice in her life, both times by the Society.

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