-Introduction
-Pre-Soviet History
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This image is the product of two separate portraits taken 17 years apart. The photographer, Steve McCurry, took the portrait on the left in 1984 while on assignment for National Geographic in Pakistan. For years both the girl in the photo and the photo itself were simply called "The Afghan Girl". In 2002, National Geographic and Steve McCurry found the women living in Afghanistan. The second photo was used to identify that the woman they found was in fact the "Afghan Girl". National Geographic then spliced the images into a full page spread for their April 2002 Issue.

The title, "A Life Revealed" describes the intent of the article; to provide us with a glimpse of the things this woman and the people of Afghanistan have endured. The photo helps to convey the impact of those experiences in a way that the article's words can not.

By analyzing the photo and knowing the events that have shaped these people's past we can better understand how completely different their lives our from our own. However, the depth of the article, intensity of the image, and the history of these people raise the question of whether or not we can truly begin to understand their life experience. I invite you to take a look at the events surrounding the life of this woman and her people through the context of their culture and history.