Steve McCurry
Tuesday 4 December 2007 21:45-22:30 (Radio 3)
Isabel Hilton talks to acclaimed Magnum photo-journalist Steve McCurry about his work in war-torn Afghanistan, where he has captured images for the last two decades, and also about his pictures of life further afield in South East Asia.
Isabel will also be reviewing The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of Philip Pullman's award winning novel for children, Northern Lights.
Playlist
Othello
The first verdict on the production of Othello at the Donmar Warehouse in London, starring Ewan McGregor - for which tickets are selling online for over two hundred and fifty pounds a pair.
Isabel Hilton discovers who will be most disappointed - those with tickets or those without.
Steve McCurry
The American photojournalist Steve McCurry may not be a household name but his images are familiar to millions worldwide. His photograph of a young orphaned Afghan girl with green eyes, taken in a refugee camp in Pakistan, has become an iconic image of war and the most recognised picture in the history of National Geographic Magazine.
McCurry has worked all over Asia but Afghanistan is the country that has helped shape him as a photographer. He went there in disguise to witness the Russian invasion and he has tracked the Taliban in their recent transformation of the country.
His latest book is an attempt to show an alternative picture to that of war torn Afghanistan and contains portraits and beautifully coloured landscapes. In tonight's/tomorrow night's Night Waves he talks to Isabel Hilton about his enduring love for such a troubled country.
The Golden Compass
Isabel will also be reviewing The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of Philip Pullman's award winning novel for children, Northern Lights.
The film, which stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, has already stirred up controversy in the United States where conservative religious organisations have called on Catholics to boycott the film.
Yet others have expressed concern that the American film-makers may have sanitised Pullman's rejection of organised religion. The writer Julia Eccleshare joins Isabel to discuss how the book has survived the transition to film.
Greek Tragedy
Isabel and a roundtable of historians, classicists and directors discuss whether it's possible for Greek Tragedy to make sense to a contemporary audience, as a host of new theatre practitioners insist that this ancient stagecraft has direct connections to the modern world.
