The photo was taken by Steve McCarry in 1984 at the Nasir Bag refugee camp in Pakistan. In the photo is Sharbat Gula, a 12-year-old girl who fled Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989).

Her piercing green eyes, full of both fear and strength, captivate and seem to tell the story of her people. The photo was first published on the cover of National Geographic in June 1985 and immediately became iconic, symbolizing the suffering and endurance of refugees.

For a long time, her identity remained unknown. Only in 2002 did McCarry, along with the National Geographic team, find it in Afghanistan. She lived in poverty, didn't know that her photo had become famous, and had never seen it before.

Sharbat got married at the age of 13 and had several children. In 2016, she was arrested in Pakistan for forgery of documents, but then released and deported to Afghanistan. In 2021, after the Taliban came to power, she took refuge in Italy.