Perhaps his most famous work, and indeed one of the world's most widely-recognised photographs, captures Sharbat Gula in 1984. She was a young Afghan girl who, at the time, lived and studied at the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Pakistan having fled a violent Soviet invasion in Afghanistan.
The photograph propelled Steve to international fame following its publication on the cover of National Geographic in June 1985. He didn't know that he'd meet Sharbat again later in life – a grown woman, and completely unaware of her stardom.
Speaking of the National Geographic editors, Bonnie remarks that:
Despite his success, Steve never rested on his laurels, writes his friend, journalist Terence White. He continued his photographic journey in every continent, driven by his reverence for the human experience, and by his desire to capture moments that would forever document times of happiness, sadness, terror, or confusion; each photograph rich with meaning.
Discover more photographs from Steve McCurry: A Life in Pictures below...