30 years, 20 passports — the story of Steve McCurry

"Flying over lake bled in Slovenia in February 1989, I noticed that the pilot flew too close to the water surface. The wheels struck the water, we went down, and the propeller began to tremble, as he hit the water. The plane banked and the fuselage began to sink in the icy lake. My belt was fastened, but included the self-preservation instinct, and I was able to free himself. We piloted it went under the plane and got out. My camera and the bag's probably still lying there under water at a depth of 19 meters."

So begins the new book of famous photographer "Untold stories of Steve McCurry: the Stories behind the photographs". The book covers 30 years of his career McCurry and includes incredible pictures of his travels: diaries, photographs, and more than 20 passports, which were with him over the years. The collapse in Slovenia was not the only danger, which avoided the legendary photographer, but his pictures we see not the horror or suffering, but rather miracles. He manages to make the world huge and at the same time, small, exotic, and somehow familiar.

Women gather garlic near Shibam, Yemen, 1999.

"When I first arrived in Shibam, I was astonished – it was something. This place perfectly demonstrates how Yemen is unique in terms of architecture, environment and nature. XVI century building like skyscrapers rising from the desert plains. The city is surrounded by mountains on the horizon is one of the most unusual and interesting landscapes in the world." (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

The boys in the trunk of a taxi in Kabul, Afghanistan, 1992.

Alarmed by the troubles of ethnic Hazaras in Afghanistan, McCurry helped establish a non-profit organization "ImagineAsia".

"They are trying to collect warm clothes, books, pencils and notebooks in the region of Bamiyan earlier inhabited by the Hazaras. But most importantly, we helped to organize classes for children and their mothers in Kabul. In addition, "ImagineAsia" helped the girl of this nation to education in the United States." (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

Station old Delhi, India, 1983.

"The station is a theatre and on the stage anything can happen. Train saw everything." (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

Prayer in the mosque of Hazratbal, Srinagar, Kashmir, 1998.

"It is so important to work with the appropriate assistant or guide. After all, your very life in his hands, and he can make your story a success or even spoil her."

When working on your project in Kashmir, McCurry collaborated with his friend and journalist Surinder Singh Oberoi, who works under the name "Cutie".

"Cute is a big big guy is a Sikh and the main person who helped me in this project. I sat with him almost every night developing new features for a project, taking notes, and lists of potential places and objects for photos". (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

The mother sleeps with the child in their floating house on the Tonle SAP lake, near Angkor, Cambodia, 1998.

"You must be patient and wait until people relax in your presence and stop paying attention to you. 80 percent of your time may not yield any results, but if a couple of times in a day, you'll be able to wait for good moment to shoot, it's just fine." (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

Workers turn sugar paste into hard candy, Kabul, Afghanistan, 2007.

"I wanted to realize this project, because Hazaras are the people who are experiencing persecution, even though does not deserve it. Sunnis consider them heretics, and their social status is similar to a caste of "untouchables" in India. (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

A man reads the Koran in Sanaa, Yemen, 1997.

"With all its biblical, Oriental atmosphere, markets and the ancient walls of Yemen can be called exotic, but it is much more of this concept". (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

Welder on the graveyard of ships in Bombay, India, 1994.

"The ships are just huge, and these people are like termites, slowly scurrying between them. In 3-4 months from the courts remains a scrap or nothing at all." (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

A mother and child looking out the window of a taxi in Bombay, India, 1993.

"I was sitting in a taxi at traffic lights during a rainstorm, and a woman brought her child to the window. I picked up the camera, made two frames, the light turns green, and off we went – it all happened in 7-8 seconds. A month later, I came across these two pictures when I processed the photos already in new York. I was glad the photo turned out that way. Though it represents the boundary between my and their world – I'm in this bubble, air-conditioned, and she was there in the heat and rain. For a moment these two worlds met". (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

The monks climb the mingun pagoda, cracked during an earthquake in 1839, in Mandalay, Burma, 1994.

"There is something incredibly fascinating in Buddhist countries. I am constantly struck by the way the monks live as a Buddhist philosophy emphasizes compassion. Ethics and aesthetics of Buddhism in a unique way merge". (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

Station to Agra Fort, Agra, India, 1983.

"Every time the train came, I wanted to capture the incredible whirlpool of life, constantly bumping into passengers and wading through mountains of Luggage. Stations of India is a separate microcosm within the country. Before you unfolds the whole life. It's all about the people here eat, sleep, wash, care for children of working. Stalls sell tea, cows and monkeys looking for food, people almost fighting for tickets – crowd noise similar to the noise of war. Someone who repairs shoes, someone who cuts or shaves other. Moreover, many hairdressers with only a chair and a plate of water." (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

The silhouettes of camels against the fire in the old field in Kuwait, 1991.

"Darkness from the smoke during a fire of the oil wells was like a moonless night. This photo does not convey the feeling of the oil mist that hung in the air and fell on my camera, or stun roar from the burning wells. Here also are seen nesterovic bombs and mines covering the entire desert. I will never forget how I got out of the car to stretch my legs and saw like a flying saucer mine right behind our car that we just passed!" (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

Slides McCurry from Angkor, Cambodia. (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

Pages from the diary McCurry during a trip to Kashmir. (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

The letter from Ali Rogers, editor at the illustrations in National Geographic magazine, December 17, 1983. (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

Pages from the diary McCurry, 1983. (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

Notes of the photographer. (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

Diary while traveling during monsoons. (Steve McCurry—Magnum)

Left: page with photo of passport McCurry from 1996 to 2006 on the Right: visa to Cambodia, 2003 (Steve McCurry—Magnum)