Steve McCurry: Adagio - Vernissage

Please join us on Thursday, July 10th, from 6 - 8 PM as we celebrate the opening for Steve McCurry: Adagio at Leica Gallery New York!

Adagio

The exhibition will feature work from McCurry’s new book, Adagio, as part of the Leica Libretto series of publications. Steve McCurry has brought together his best work, most unpublished, and has added a special collection of his newest work, specifically commissioned by Leica Camera USA.

"There’s a contemplative or meditative quality to photography, which I find to be a sort of peaceful state. I love being able to travel the world and experience different cultures and landscapes.“

– Steve McCurry

I page through the works assembled here, many very recent and as urgent as Ukraine, and I marvel at how Steve catches the small print of history without ever surrendering a wider sense of mystery.

There are children here from every continent who, in their state of wonder and play, evoke the wide-awake spirit of Cartier-Bresson, whose grace is evident, too, in the natural geometry of so many images here.

Again and again, I meet images that could issue only from Steve McCurry; the sense of composition bears his ignature as much as does the depth. Different collections have been made up of Steve’s portraits of faces, of religious images, of pictures taken in Asia, and a hundred more anthologies could be assembled from each year’s explorations. But this particular gathering shows how a humanist with a camera sustains his curiosity even well into his eighth decade.

— Pico Iyer

From the Introduction to Adagio

Steve McCurry has been one of the most iconic figures in contemporary photography for more than five decades. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, McCurry studied cinematography at Pennsylvania State University before going on to work for a newspaper. After two years, McCurry made his first of what would become many trips to India. Traveling with little more than a bag of clothes and film, he made his way across the subcontinent, exploring the country with his camera.

It was after several months of travel that he crossed the border into Pakistan. In a small village, he met a group of refugees from Afghanistan, who smuggled him across the border into their country, just as the Russian invasion was closing the country to Western journalists. Emerging in traditional dress, with a full beard and weather-worn features after months embedded with the Mujahideen, McCurry made his way over the Pakistan border with his film sewn into his clothes.

McCurry's images were among the first to show the world the brutality of the Russian invasion. Since then, McCurry has created unforgettable images across all seven continents and numerous countries. His body of work spans conflicts, vanishing cultures, ancient traditions, and contemporary culture alike - yet always retains the human element that made his celebrated image of the Afghan Girl such a powerful image.

McCurry has been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards in the industry, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal. Most recently, the Royal Photographic Society in London awarded McCurry the Centenary Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and in 2019, McCurry was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame.

Exhibit Dates

September 10 - October 18, 2026

Opening Reception

Thursday, September 10, 6 - 8 pm

Exhibition Hours

Leica Gallery New York is open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM, and Sunday from 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM.

Leica Store and Gallery Meatpacking District NYC

406 W 13th Street | New York, NY 10014

We look forward to seeing you there!

CREDITS

All photographs are the copyright of the artist.