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The Gulf War was perhaps the worst ecological disaster of the twentieth century.
McCurry was there in 1991, commissioned by National Geographic to document the catastrophic effects of the conflict on the environment.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq were the stops on a three-month journey that he describes as the hardest and most compelling assignment of his career.
He recalls those terrible days:
“On a sunny afternoon, in broad daylight, you could suddenly find yourself in total darkness — only fire and smoke. To shoot, I had to use a tripod and very long exposures. I truly risked my life. While photographing this family of camels searching for food and survival, I nearly stepped on landmines several times.”
It is one of McCurry’s most apocalyptic images.
Here, the human figure is absent; instead, the photographer gives voice to the desperate plight of animals — camels, horses, cattle, and countless birds — caught in the aftermath of destruction.