In December 1984, a National Geographic photographer named Steve McCurry2 visited the Nasir Bagh refugee camp on the Afghan/Pakistan border while covering the war between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan. While there he snapped a photograph of a 12-year-old girl with haunting blue-green eyes. The girl had been living in the camp ever since Soviet helicopters had bombed her village five years earlier, killing both her parents. McCurry didn't have a translator with him that day, so he never got the girl's name. But the photograph, which appeared on the cover of the June 1985 issue, went on to become the single most recognized photograph in National Geographic's 115-year history and one of the most reproduced images in the world.
As the image's fame grew, so did the mystery: Who was the girl? “I don't think a week has gone by for 15 years,” McCurry told National Geographic in 2002, “that I don't get requests from people trying to get information about her.”
McCurry went on assignment3 to the region 10 more times in the years that followed, and each time he searched for the Afghan girl, but couldn't find her. Then in January 2002, he and a team from National Geographic made one more trip to the Nasir Bagh refugee camp to try to track her down4. The girl—who by then would have been a woman of about 30—apparently hadn't lived in the camp for several years. But McCurry hoped they might find someone who knew her. The camp was scheduled5 to be demolished6, so it was their last chance. Once Nasir Bagh was gone, there would be little hope of ever finding her.
At the refugee camp the team pursued several false leads before finally meeting a man who claimed to recognize the girl in the photograph. This guy seemed authentic7. He said the woman was his neighbor's wife and even offered to go and get her.
Several days later, the man returned with the woman's husband. In Afghanistan, women do not meet men other than family members, so McCurry was not allowed to see her. He sent a female member of the team, Carrie Regan, to photograph her face, so that it could be compared against the photos taken in 1984.
One look at the new photos was all it took. McCurry was certain that this woman, whose name was Sharbat Gula, was the same person he'd photographed 17 years earlier. But to be sure, he had photo analysts compare the irises8 of the girl in the 1984 photos with those of the woman in the 2002 photos. Result: They were 99.9% certain that Sharbat was the girl (an FBI analysis of her facial features came to the same conclusion). McCurry quickly negotiated with the family and not only received permission to meet Gula, but also to photograph her a second time for the April 2002 issue of National Geographic.
So what had happened to the “Afghan girl” in the intervening9 years? She had lived at Nasir Bagh until 1992 (she returned to Afghanistan during a lull10 in the fighting between the Soviets and Afghan rebels). She married a baker and had four daughters, one of whom died in infancy. Life for Gula had been hard and it showed in her face. Although only about 30(she doesn't know exactly when she was born), she looked much older. One thing hadn't changed, though: “Her eyes are as haunting now as they were then,” says McCurry. And although Gula is the subject of one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century, it was only in 2002 that she saw the photo for the first time.
Gula has returned to her normal life. National Geographic provides medical assistance and other aid, and is seeing that her daughters receive an education. But the magazine will not reveal where she lives, ensuring that the girl with the haunting eyes will likely live out the rest of her life as she wishes—in anonymity11, never to be heard from again.
When they met again, McCurry told Sharbat 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 resilience12 of her people.”
The award-winning photographer said his original image of Sharbat 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.
“Clearly she has become a symbol that National Geographic has used to illustrate13 the circumstances of refugees like her, and many people have inquired about her. 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.
1984年12月，《国家地理》杂志一位名叫斯蒂夫·麦考瑞的摄影师来到阿富汗与巴基斯坦接壤的纳斯尔·巴格难民营采访，时值苏阿战争期间。在那里，他抓拍了一张12岁少女的照片。她有一双令人难以忘怀的、青绿色的眼睛。5年前，苏联直升机轰炸她的村庄，炸死了她的父母。从此，她就一直生活在难民营里。那天，麦考瑞没有带翻译，也没有记下小姑娘的名字。但是，那张照片却上了1985年6月《国家地理》的封面，成为《国家地理》115年历史上惟一一张最受社会认可的照片，同时也是世界上复制最多的照片之一。
少女的照片越来越出名，人们对此的好奇也越来越强烈：那少女到底是谁？“我觉得15年一闪而过，仿佛就只一个星期。”2002年，麦考瑞告诉《国家地理》杂志：“我没有收到任何索要有关她的信息的请求。”
在以后岁月里，麦考瑞曾经十多次前往该地区采访，每次都去寻找那个小姑娘，可总是无功而返。到了2002年1月，他与《国家地理》的一组人员再次前往纳斯尔·巴格难民营，试图寻找小姑娘的下落。那姑娘，当时应该是30岁左右的妇女了，显然已经多年不住在难民营了。但是，麦考瑞希望可以找到某个知道她的人。难民营将按计划被拆除，因此，这或许是最后一次机会了。一旦纳斯尔·巴格不存在了，寻找她的希望将更加渺茫。
在难民营，小组成员追踪了几个线索，但却是假的。最后，他们终于遇到一个男人。他说他认识照片中的姑娘。这家伙似乎可信。他说，那个女人是他邻居的妻子，甚至提出去叫她来。
几天后，那个男人带来了那女人的丈夫。在阿富汗，除了家庭成员以外，女人一般是不会见其他男人的，所以他们不允许麦考瑞去见她。他只好派小组中一女性成员卡利·里根去给她拍脸部特写，以便与1984年的照片进行对比。
看一眼新拍的照片就够了。麦考瑞肯定这个名叫沙巴特·古拉的女人正是17年前所拍的那个人。但是，为了保险起见，他还是找来了照片分析师，利用虹膜技术仔细比对1984年照片中少女与2002年照片中妇女的虹膜。结果是：他们可以百分之九十九点九地肯定沙巴特·古拉就是那个少女（联邦调查局对其脸部特征进行了分析，结论相同）。麦考瑞很快与她的家人协商。他们不仅允许他会见古拉，而且还可以再为她拍照，刊登在《国家地理》2002年4月号上。
那么，这些年，“阿富汗少女”到底生活怎样？在纳斯尔·巴格难民营，她一直呆到1992年（她乘苏军与阿富汗抵抗力量战斗的间隙回到了阿富汗）。她嫁给了一个面包师，生了四个女儿，其中一个幼年夭折了。古拉生活过得艰难，这一切反映在她的脸上。虽然只有30岁（她不知道自己的确切出生日期），但她看上去却比实际年龄老多了。但是，有一点依然没有改变，“她的眼睛还是那么令人难以忘怀，”麦考瑞说。尽管古拉是二十世纪最著名照片之一的女主角，但是一直到2002年，她才第一次看到那张照片。
古拉又回到了正常生活之中。《国家地理》杂志为她提供了医疗援助和其他帮助，并保证她的女儿能接受到教育。但是，杂志不会透露她住在哪里，以确保这个拥有一双令人难忘眼睛的女孩可以像她自己所期望的那样度过余生——默默无闻，无声无息。
再次相遇的时候，麦考瑞告诉沙巴特：她的肖像已经作为阿富汗人的象征而闻名遐迩。“我觉得她并不在意自己的个人名气，”麦考瑞说，“但是，当我们说她已经成为阿富汗人民尊严和韧性的象征时，她感到很高兴。”
这位获奖的摄影师说，他原来拍摄的沙巴特的肖像紧紧抓住了世界上如此众多的人们的想象。她的那张脸，尤其是她的眼睛表达了力量和美，还有痛苦和坚毅。
“很显然，她已经成为一个象征，《国家地理》用它来图解像她一样的难民的生活处境。许多人在询问她的情况。她代表了一大批难民，而不仅仅是阿富汗难民。她帮助我们教育人们了解其他文化和地域，还帮助我们关注阿富汗妇女大体的生活情况。”
沙巴特·古拉象征着一整代阿富汗妇女和儿童的苦难。国家地理学会计划设立一项特别基金，以帮助年轻的阿富汗妇女获得发展和受教育的机会。学会还将与经过挑选的非营利机构以及该地区的地方当局共同开发此项目。
1. snapshot n. 快照
2. Steve McCurry：斯蒂夫·麦考瑞，1974年毕业于宾州州立大学艺术与建筑学院。在报社工作3年后，于1978年前往印度，从事自由摄影工作。1979年开始摄影记者生涯，并于1984年在巴基斯坦与阿富汗接壤的难民营拍下著名的“阿富汗少女”。
3. assignment n. 分配，委派
4. track down 追踪，追溯
5. schedule v. 预定，安排
6. demolish v. 推翻，拆除
7. authentic adj. 可信的
8. iris n. ［解］虹膜
9. intervening adj. 暂停的，间隙的，期间的
10. lull n. 间隙，暂停
11. anonymity n. 匿名
12. resilience n. 韧性；迅速复原的能力
13. illustrate v. 图解