“Sharbat Gula Holding a 1985 Issue of National Geographic,” 2002. Photo courtesy of Steve McCurry.

County Theater partners with Michener Museum’s Steve McCurry exhibition

Chris Collier
Renew Theaters
Published in
3 min readAug 30, 2016

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Doylestown’s Michener Museum is currently holding an exhibition on the work of Philadelphia-born photographer Steve McCurry — Unguarded, Untold, Iconic: Afghanistan through the Lens of Steve McCurry. The County Theater is thrilled to partner with the Michener to present two screenings in conjunction with this exhibition as part of the Documentary Voices Film Series. The County will be screening The Search for the Afghan Girl on Wednesday, September 7th and Ocean Voyagers on Wednesday, September 21st. The series explores documentary works by local area filmmakers in a variety of styles and voices.

About the Exhibition

Unguarded, Untold, Iconic: Afghanistan through the Lens of Steve McCurry has been named one of 12 must-see summer exhibitions by USA Today.

Best known for his 1985 National Geographic cover photograph Afghan Girl, Steve McCurry continues to fascinate with his stunning photographs of locations from around the globe.

This exhibition will highlight images taken throughout his decades-long relationship with Afghanistan, its landscape and, most importantly, its people. Visitors will be able to view both new and familiar photographs and experience Afghanistan through McCurry’s thought-provoking and visually arresting lens.

Born in Philadelphia and raised in Newtown Square, McCurry currently keeps studios in both New York City and Exton, PA.

The exhibition runs through October 23rd. More information and tickets can be found at MichenerArtMuseum.org.

About the Screenings

Men Sharing the 1984 Photograph in Search for Sharbat Gula,” 2002. Photo courtesy of Steve McCurry.

The Search for the Afghan Girl
Wed, Sept 7 at 7:00pm — Get Tickets

This National Geographic feature film takes the viewer on a fascinating journey to locate and identify The Afghan Girl, whose striking green-eyed gaze captivated the world with photographer Steve McCurry’s iconic 1985 National Geographic cover image. When McCurry first encountered her, it was inside of Pakistan while on assignment to cover the Afghan refugee crisis in 1984. Flash forward 17 years to the early 2000s, when yet another war has broken out in Afghanistan. This film allows us to follow McCurry as he searches to identify her, giving us a striking insider’s perspective to the war-torn region.

Introduction by Kelsey Halliday Johnson, Curatorial Fellow in Photography and New Media at the Michener Art Museum. Tickets: $10.50 General, $8 Member, $5 Student.

Ocean Voyagers
Wed, Sept 21 at 7:00pm — Get Tickets

Narrated by Meryl Streep and the 2008 winner of “Best Nature Film” at the Jules Verne Film Festival in Paris. This family-friendly screening is filled with dazzling and unprecedented HD footage following a year in the life of a mother humpback whale with her new baby calf. Filmed in French Polynesia, Hawaii, Alaska, Newfoundland, The Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine, the resulting footage of these elusive animals is a relaxing underwater journey filled with mesmerizing whale songs and new perspectives on their little-seen habits. Pitcairn, based in Bryn Athyn, PA, worked with the Smithsonian, PBS, Discovery Channel, and Animal Planet International on his various film work. Pitcairn has traveled to some of the world’s most remote and magical places, always with a naturalist-approach. The artist currently has an exhibition of his work in Iceland on view at the Natural History Museum in Washington, DC.

Introduction and Q&A with filmmaker Feodor Pitcairn. Tickets: $10.50 General, $8 Member, $5 Student.

Portrait of Feodor Pitcairn in Iceland at the 2014 Bárðarbunga volcano fissure eruption. Pitcairn will be present for a Q&A following the screening.

Two additional films will be screened at the Michener as part of the Documentary Voices Film Series: Doylestown-native Jody Lee Lipes’ Ballet 422 on Wed, Sept 14 at 7pm and Philadelphia artist David Kessler’s The Pine Barrens accompanied by a live score, performed by the Ruins of Friendship Orchestra on Wed, Sept 28 at 7pm.

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