Some of you might have seen this picture...-ot
HANSON NEWS FAIRY
Afghanistan. She was just so pretty and had these amazing eyes (most of you
have probably seen the picture) And they tried to find her again to see what
she looked like now. There were rumors that she was dead, but she's not. They
actually did find her and they're airing a piece on it Friday night on msnbc.
I'm always interested in stuff like this, so I thought some of you might like
it.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/723068.asp
-Mare
But I can't help it
if I'm just a fool
always having my heart
set on you
'til the time
you start changing
the rules
I'll keep chasing
the soles
of your shoes
Larry G
> This girl was on the cover of National Geographic 15 years ago. She was
from
> Afghanistan. She was just so pretty and had these amazing eyes (most of
you
> have probably seen the picture) And they tried to find her again to see
what
> she looked like now. There were rumors that she was dead, but she's not.
They
> actually did find her and they're airing a piece on it Friday night on
msnbc.
> I'm always interested in stuff like this, so I thought some of you might
like
> it.
>
> http://www.msnbc.com/news/723068.asp
Wow, that's interesting. It's amazing that they were able to find her.
Larry
erin wubs yew
>Afghanistan. She was just so pretty and had these amazing eyes (most of you
>have probably seen the picture) And they tried to find her again to see what
>she looked like now. There were rumors that she was dead, but she's not. They
>actually did find her and they're airing a piece on it Friday night on msnbc.
>I'm always interested in stuff like this, so I thought some of you might like
>it.
>
>http://www.msnbc.com/news/723068.asp
I bought that just because she had the *coolest* eyes.
erin
-----------
you lost yourself in your search to find something else to hide behind
k a t i e
>actually did find her and they're airing a piece on it Friday night on msnbc.
Mystery Afghan Cover Girl Found
Photographer Tracks Down National Geographic Icon 17 Years Later
David Braun
National Geographic News
(March 12) - She was one of the world's most famous faces, yet no one knew who
she was. Her image appeared on the front of magazines and books, posters, lapel
pins, and even rugs, but she didn't know it. Now, after searching for 17 years,
National Geographic has once again found the Afghan girl with the haunting
green eyes.
The mysterious "Afghan girl" whose direct gaze has intrigued the West for so
long is Sharbat Gula. She lives in a remote region of Afghanistan with her
husband and three daughters.
Gula was located nearly two decades after her picture appeared on the cover of
National Geographic magazine in 1985. She had no idea her face had become an
icon, said Steve McCurry, the photographer who made the famous portrait for
National Geographic in 1984,
and who tried to find her again during many subsequent trips he made to
Pakistan and Afghanistan.
McCurry's photo of the girl was selected as the cover of National Geographic
100 Best Pictures.
In January 2002, a National Geographic team returned to the Nasir Bagh refugee
camp in Pakistan, where Gula was originally photographed, to search for her.
She was identified through a series of contacts that led to her brother and
husband, who agreed to ask her if she was willing to be interviewed.
Gula has been photographed on only two occasions: in 1984 and at the reunion
with Steve McCurry this year. She had never seen her famous portrait before it
was shown to her in January.
"This is the face that so captivated not only National Geographic readers but
also anyone who saw her image around the world," said Boyd Matson, host of the
National Geographic television show EXPLORER, who was with the group that met
with Gula.
"We've known her face, but we've not known her story, not even her name," he
said.
Final Search
National Geographic set out to make one last concerted effort to find the
Afghan girl before the refugee camp in Pakistan where she had last been seen
was demolished
From the camp, the trail wound through several villages and into at least one
dead end, until someone recognized the girl on the cover of National Geographic
and said he knew her brother.
"The second I saw the color of her brother's eyes, I knew we had the right
family," said Matson.
Because Gula lives a traditional Muslim life behind the veil, Gula was not
allowed to meet men outside her family. But the Geographic team was given
permission to send a female associate producer to meet Sharbat Gula and
photograph her face.
Matson said that when he compared the photograph of the woman with that of the
girl, he was certain it was the same person. "The irises of the eyes, the moles
and scar on the face—all indicated this was the person we were looking for,"
he said.
Still, to make sure Sharbat Gula was the girl who had been photographed 17
years earlier, the EXPLORER team obtained verification through iris-scanning
technology and face-recognition techniques used by the U.S. Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
After Gula's family granted permission for her to meet with the man who
photographed her 17 years ago, McCurry knew immediately, even after so many
years, that he had found her again. "Her eyes are as haunting now as they were
then," he said.
"She remembered me, primarily because she had never been photographed before I
made the image of her in 1984, or since then," he said.
Gula recalled the experience of being photographed as a child, she told
McCurry, because she remembered how her head covering was full of holes after
being scorched by a cooking fire.
When they met again, McCurry told Gula her image had become famous as a symbol
of the Afghan people. "I don't think she was particularly interested in her
personal fame," McCurry said. "But she was pleased when we said she had come to
be a symbol of the dignity and resilience of her people."
The award-winning photographer said his original image of Gula had seized the
imagination of so many people around the world because her face, particularly
her eyes, expressed pain and resilience as well as strength and beauty.
Sharbat Tells Her Story
When Gula agreed to have her picture taken for the second time in her life, she
came out from the secrecy of her veil to tell her story. She wanted the people
around the world who knew her face to know that she survived the refugee camp
in Pakistan.
She married and had four daughters, one of whom died in infancy. She lives in
obscurity, according to the customs and traditions of her culture and religion.
A member of the Pashtun ethnic group in Afghanistan, Gula said she fared
relatively well under Taliban rule, which, she feels, provided a measure of
stability after the chaos and terror of the Soviet war.
According to Matson and McCurry, Gula has returned to anonymity; the latest
publicity about her name and face is unlikely to draw attention to her in
Afghanistan. "She will not give another media interview and she wishes not to
be contacted," Matson said. Her family has relocated to a different village in
a remote part of Afghanistan, where she will continue to live her life in
purdah, he added.
Asked if Gula would benefit financially from her famous image, Matson said she
was "being looked after."
"Clearly she has become a symbol that National Geographic has used to
illustrate the circumstances of refugees like her, and many people have
inquired about her," he said. "She stood for an entire group of refugees, not
just Afghan refugees. She has helped us with our mission of educating people
about other cultures and regions—and she's helping us again by drawing
attention to the lives of Afghan women and girls in general."
Because Sharbat Gula has come to symbolize the suffering of an entire
generation of Afghan women and their children, the National Geographic Society
is creating a special fund to assist in the development and delivery of
educational opportunities for young Afghan women and girls. The Society will
work with select nonprofit organizations and local authorities in the region to
create the program.
Contributions can be made online to the National Geographic Afghan Girls Fund
or by sending a check directly to the National Geographic Afghan Girls Fund,
Development Office, National Geographic Society, 1145 17th Street N.W.,
Washington, D.C., 20036.
Gula's life will be the subject of the cover story in the April issue of
National Geographic, and the process of finding her and verifying her identity
will be detailed in a television documentary premiering in the United States as
a one-hour special report from National Geographic EXPLORER, Friday, March 15,
at 9 p.m. ET on MSNBC. The special will also appear internationally on the
National Geographic Channel beginning March 18.
-0-
---> katie elizabeth
and if i stop breathing keep your arms around me
Angel81233
>Afghanistan. She was just so pretty and had these amazing eyes (most of you
>have probably seen the picture) And they tried to find her again to see what
>she looked like now. There were rumors that she was dead, but she's not. They
>actually did find her and they're airing a piece on it Friday night on msnbc.
>I'm always interested in stuff like this, so I thought some of you might like
>it
i just read that now...her eyes are *so* amazing..the story was pretty
interesting if you have the time to read it, so check it out
*j
SuComp
I read about that in the paper and the photographer said he got letters and
emails all the time asking about her and sending her money and asking to find
her and marry her.
SUE
You can take me down to show me your home not the place where you live but the
place where you belong you can bend my ear we can talk all day just make sure
I'm around when you've finally got something to say
Toad the Wet Sprocket