Iconic

Afgan Girl by Steve McCurry

If there is one representative picture of National Geographic, it is the picture of the Afgan Girl for me. I was mesmerised from the first time I saw it years and years ago and I still find myself drawn into her soulful eyes. There seem to be so much clarity and truth in this picture. This month's Nat Geo article on Afganistan women by Elisabeth Rubin opened like this:

Twenty-five years ago an Afghan girl with green eyes haunted the cover of National Geographic. She became the iconic image of Afghanistan's plight, a young refugee fleeing the war between the Soviet-backed communists and the American-backed mujahideen. Today the iconic image of Afghanistan is again a young woman—Bibi Aisha, whose husband slashed off her nose and ears as punishment for running away from him and his family. Aisha fled to escape beatings and other abuse.

Follow Aisha's story here, I hope it does something for you as it did for me.