Last night, I spent nearly an hour and a half communing with “Looking East” and for me it was an unfamiliar experience. Considering the book is “simply” a collection of portraits with little or no context – kinda like name/rank/serial number, I was unprepared for the power of the individual and collective images.

Because McCurry’s images are McCurry’s images, time with each was like being, in this case, in the actual presence of each of the “subjects”. To me, it seemed as if while I was looking at and considering each “subject”, they in turn were looking back and with full consciousness, considering me. It was/is both a mesmerizing and deeply touching experience.

I’ve been involved with both moving and still images for most of my life, BUT this was the first time I’ve experienced this two-way communication with image. “Looking East” has been/is a truly unique, enlightening, expanding and deepening experience. A “gift” is so many, many ways!

Thank you.

Stan Friedman, fine art photographer
Santa Monica, CA