I don’t know how long I’ve followed Steve McCurry’s work, and maybe this is a “Hey, it’s Sunday, Day 20 of March and the #SOL22 Challenge, and I’m not sure what to write,” but such a treasure is worth sharing.
Steve’s photographs have inspired my students in so many ways. One year we used his work as a mentor text for a photo essay and played with the idea: Quotes first or photos? How does that affect the creator? It led to Steve’s use of various themes, and the quotes he chose to represent those themes. All great writing talk and idea generation.
Of course I’ve used single photos with them, and for me, too, to get us/me going on those I-don’t-know-what-to-write-about days. They have engaged in different ways, lost in images, in different possibilities, is perspective explorations that made me see in new ways. Yesterday when I saw this collection based on the brilliant, simple theme of sidewalks, I knew I had to share. (How many times have you thought about sidewalks and the role they play in our lives?)
I recall that last year, at some point after I’d had a successful session writing with my students from his art, I wrote a comment thanking him. I wanted him to know how important he has been to me, to us, and hoped that it was okay that I used his photographs in this way.
He replied, thanking me for bringing his work to my students and went on to say how his sister had taught middle school, too. He was grateful for me! I was reminded that appreciation, attention, is love—and I do love this. (I hope you do, too.)
“On pavements and the bark of trees I have found whole worlds.”
– Mark Tobey
“There is no end to the beauty for the person who is aware. Even the cracks between the sidewalk contain geometric patterns of amazing beauty.”
– Matthew Fox
“You could start at a path leading nowhere more fantastic than from your own front steps to the sidewalk, and from there you could go… well, anywhere at all.”
– Stephen King
“The first sidewalks made their appearance around 2000 BCE in what is now Turkey, and there is evidence that both the ancient Greeks and Romans incorporated roadside pedestrian footpaths in their cities.”
– Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris
“The sidewalks were long where I grew up.
They were as veined as the backs
Of my Grandma’s hands…”
– Colleen J. McElroy
“The…
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Jump off; Find Wings 
Thanks for sharing the treasure of Steve’s work. I have never heard of him or seen his work. I love that his photos are saturated with vibrancy and a story begging to be told.
Right?! He is a human with an eye and a heart. Thanks for reading—and appreciating!
Wow! Steve’s work is stunning. I have never heard of him before! I’m now going to Instagram to look through his photos. Thank you for sharing!
He is a gem, for certain. Thanks for reading.
These photos are amazing and inspiring. So many places to jump off and start writing. Photographs ar inspirations for so many untold stories. Thanks for sharing .
He’s definitely an inspiration.He’s done several with the literacy theme. Amazing!
Wow, I feel the same, thanks for sharing his photos, they are stunning! Another name to check out!
I find myself turning to others to inspire me lately. So goes the #SOL22 for me. Thanks for reading.