Steve McCurry's One-Minute Masterclass #4

When you need to get people on side quickly there’s no denying that humour can be a universal ice-breaker. So not surprisingly, it’s one of the many tools in legendary photographer Steve McCurry’s formidable arsenal. In the fourth edition in our masterclass series with him, McCurry, who’s photographed people from just about every nation in the world, has some valuable advice for getting the most out of your subject - even if you don’t speak the same language.

Steve McCurry, People sitting on and crowding inside a taxi, Mazar e sharif (2003)

In the video above, our favourite photojournalist urges amateur photographers and happy snappers alike not to treat the locals as an “object of your curiosity” but as a “fellow human being”.

“People sense if you’re with them and on their level and appreciate them as opposed to an outsider coming in trying to exploit them,” he says. If you do that, he adds “all sorts of wonderful things happen and people really open up.”

Watch the remainder of the series here:

McCurry's One-Minute Masterclass #1
McCurry's One-Minute Masterclass #2
McCurry's One-Minute Masterclass #3
McCurry's One-Minute Masterclass #5
McCurry's One-Minute Masterclass #6 
McCurry's One-Minute Masterclass #7
McCurry's One-Monute Masterclass #8
McCurry's One-Minute Masterclass #9
McCurry's One-Minute Masterclass #10

For a closer look behind the photographs follow the link to Revealed - the true story behind the Afghan 'Mona Lisa'.

For more from Steve McCurry view his memories of 9/11 and follow the link to buy Steve McCurry’s Iconic Photographs.

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Steve McCurry, Young monks playing video games (2001), Sera monastery, Bylakuppe, India