Afghan Girl

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Sharbat Gula was the subject of Steve McCurry's "Afghan Girl." The photograph was shot in December 1984.

Sharbat Gula (Pashto: شربت ګله) (pronounced [ˈʃaɾbat]) (born ca. 1972) is an Afghan woman who was the subject of a famous photograph by journalist Steve McCurry. Gula was living as a refugee in Pakistan during the time of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan when she was photographed. The image brought her recognition when it was featured on the cover of the June 1985 issue of National Geographic Magazine at a time when she was approximately 12 years old. Gula was known throughout the world simply as "the Afghan Girl" until she was formally identified in early 2002. The photograph has been likened to Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Mona Lisa^[1] and is sometimes popularly referred to as "the Afghan Mona Lisa".^[2 

20 YEARS LATER

Portrait by Steve McCurry turned out to be one of those images that everyone remembers.  It appeared on the cover of National Geographic June 1985. The Afghan Girl sea green eyes were haunting when you learnt of the tragedy that drained her homeland by war

For 17 years no one knew the Afghan Girl's  name not until McCurry returned to Pakistan to look for the girl with green eyes. Her name is Sharbat Gula. Gula is Pashtun, the most warlike of Afghan tribes. It is said of the Pashtun that they are only at peace when they are at war and her eyes still burn with ferocity now and they did in 1985