ISSUE 2 路 MAY 2011
MA (HAMI) NEPALI Life of the young ones in a young Republic.
RELIGION IS NOT JUST ABOUT GODS 6 HER HOLY FOGNESS 42 THE PURSUIT OF REFLECTYVENESS 62
Cover Photo Shikhar Bhattarai
Issue #2, May 2011 Founder/Editor Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka Creative head/Managing Editor Swapnil Acharya Associate Editor Prajwal Bhattarai Copy Editor Cheteze Tamang
This magazine has been produced with the kind support of our contributing photographers, who have agreed to lend us permission to use their photographs in this magazine and other promotional material of NEPALPHOTOGRAPHY. org. By submitting their photographs to the magazine, the photographer agrees to grant NEPALPHOTOGRAPHY.org magzine rights to use, publicise and archive the photographs. Photographs used in this magazine may not be reproduced, copied or stored in a retrieval system at any circumstances whatsoever. NEPALPHOTOGRAPHY.org is unable to grant any third party license to use the photographs for any other purposes. The photographer shall be directly corresponded for publication/use of the photos contained in this magazine. Violation of the aforementioned rules is an offensive crime. Copyright 2010 NEPALPHOTOGRAPHY.org
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The authors are responsible for the chaise and the presentation of the facts/photographs contained in this publication and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of NEPALPHOTOGRAPHY.org. All readers are recommended to make their own independent enquires before sending money, incurring expenses or entering into commitments in relation to any advertisement appearing in this publication. NEPALPHOTOGRAPHY.org does not vouch any claims made by advertisers for their products and services. The editor, publisher and every photographer/writer of this publication shall not be held liable for any consequence of the event of such claims not being honoured by the advertisers. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court of the Government of Nepal. May contain explicit or contents unsuitable to minors. Parental discretion is advised.
KNOWING IMAGES. LEARNING IMAGES. EXPLORING IMAGES. DEFINING IMAGES. SHOWING IMAGES. SEEING IMAGES. FEELING IMAGES. BEING IMAGES. NOW
MOVING IMAGES.
Calling for NEPALPHOTOGRAPHY Film Funds For more information, email nepalphoto.org@gmail.com
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FEATURE
Shashank Shrestha
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Religion is not JUST about gods FROM HINDUS TO BUDDHISTS, AND FROM CHILDHOOD TO DEATH (AND FURTHER) RELIGION IS SOMETHING THAT WALKS WITH US THROUGH OUR LIVES - IN DIFFERENT FORMS AT DIFFERENT STAGES - MEANING DIFFERENT THINGS. Many people describe religion differently. To some it is faith, it is a belief that they live with; whereas to some religion is a ritual; a routine they follow consciously or unconsciously. Some like to call themselves religious, whereas some like being called an atheist. However, almost everyone blurts out phrases like “Oh my god!” or “Hey Bhagwan!” every once in a while regardless of what god they believe in, or whether they don’t. In this section, we asked our photographers to show us what religion meant to them. Some went on to show us that religion was god, while the other showed us that it’s more than just gods – it’s about faith and it’s about adopting what your fathers have left for you to follow. However, our photographers though unanimously believe that the scope of religion exceeds farther than god. They make us believe that god is only a tiny part of the whole thing.
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DHILUNG kirant
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prajwal sijapati
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clockwise from top: (1) and (2) Sagar chitrakar (3) swapnil acharya NOVEMBER 2010
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sumeet shakya
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PRAJWOL SIJAPATI
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nikhil gurung
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VIEWFINDER
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WHO AM I? I’ve often been asked who am I? I am someone important? Does my presence make a difference? Is my existence meaningful or productive? After all what is my identity? The single most important thing that makes your existence possible is your identity. The question is answerable only when you know who you are, or what you are. Others will not accept or appreciate your existence until and unless you’re dead sure who you are, and who you want to be. In this challenge, we asked our photographers to send us their self-portraits, profile pictures of their lives; and what we got were these incredible photos where the photographer tell us who they are. Some see them between the mountains, while some see themselves in the toilet seat, some see themselves dead, some see themselves with their favourite gadgets while some add a pink flower to their names. What a wonderful way to tell us who you are. Lets check it out.
AND OH! BY THE WAY I AM
SWAPNIL ACHARYA NOVEMBER 2010
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I AM
SAGAR CHITRAKAR 16
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I AM
ANUMA SHARMA BHATTARAI
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I AM
DHILUNG KIRANT
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I AM
SHIKHAR BHATTARAI
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I AM
SASHANK SHRESTHA
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I AM
KUSHA GOYA
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I AM
NAWANG TARA GHALE
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I AM
PRAJWOL SIJAPATI
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I AM
SUBRINA SHRESTHA
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PHOTO FEATURE
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love fog - the dark mysterious and chilling ambience it projects in the surrounding. I had never been to Sleshmantak Ban, the forest east of the Pashupatinath Temple and it was amazing to see the area in such a hazy state of bitter coldness and utter despondency, engulfed in dark heavy fog. I don’t know what gods would think, but it certainly looked like a place to live and have fun for a brief eternity.
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yFogness photos & text UMES SHRESTHA
Sleshmantak Ban, Pashupati, Kathmandu
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EXPRESSION
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LIFE IN “NEW” NEPAL NEPALPHOTOGRAPHY.ORG
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IN THIS PHOTO, SOME MADHESI KIDS ARE SEEN LEAPING WITH JOY. PHOTO: SHIKHAR BHATTARAI
THE ONES WHO SUFFERED THE MOST DURING THE 12 YEARS OF INSURGENCY WHERE CHILDREN, AND AFTER THE WAR, IT’S CHILDREN WHO ARE STILL VICTIMISED OF VARIOUS THINGS LIKE VOILENCE, DEPRIVATION OF EDUCATION AND POOR FULFILMENT OF THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF LIFE. IN THIS SECTION, WE TAKE A LOOK AT HOW THE CHILDREN ARE BEING AFFECTED IN THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED REPUBLIC OF NEPAL. WITH HOPE THAT THAT THESE KIDS WILL BE ADDRESSED TO IN A BETTER WAY IN THE NEW CONSTITUTION, WE PLUNGE DEEPER INTO THE SITUATION RIGHT NOW. NOVEMBER 2010
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shikhar bhattarai
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prajwal bhattarai
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shikhar bhattarai
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dhilung kirant
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PHOTO FEATURE
THE PURSUIT OF
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photos & text PRAJWAL BHATTARAI
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he arrival of monsoon slowly started to wet Kathmandu. The never ending potholes on the streets and pavements started filling up into puddles. While others would avoid them, jump over them, ride bikes across them or simply put off their cigarette butts in them, I insanely started falling in love with them :D. I was fascinated by the way a simple grass eating cow appeared on the surface of water.
NESS NOVEMBER 2010
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OPINION
Photography and Progression... text PRADEEP YONZON
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oday’s Exhibition is an evidence that Nepali photographers are making a remarkable progress in the field of photographic art. They have successfully executed their body of works in a fascinating way; capturing their own features are the interesting and conceptual notion. There is no doubt that successful photograph can be made without involved any specialized techniques and equipment, but photographer must experience a deep level of understanding and appreciation of their own works. And that has been proved through this exhibition. Let me go on a brief tour of the past: At the beginning of the first half of 19th century was a dawn of new era. What Nicephore Niepce had invented and his colleague Daguerre perfected the technique had marked a new epoch in science and the world of photography. Since then we have been able to extend our senses of seeing the world in various degrees and perceptions. As the result of great finding, enthusiasts were seeking for its potential applications of new invention which meant a practical approach of the new medium which based on technical rather than aesthetic. In the following years, they began to record (with curiosity) the features of individual,immediate family members,friends,the members of aristocracy as well as celebrities. In the second half of 1800s, pioneer photographers made their grand tours with a camera through Europe to middle East, Egypt, India to China and Japan,making a comprehensive photographic records of their journey and returned home to publish what they had seen,the photographs comprising People, the landscapes, and the magnificence of the ruins of ancient world. Some of the most dramatic photographs of 1800s are battle field scenes of two major wars. The earliest surviving pictures were taken by Roger Fenton in Crimean war (1853-1856),the photographs of the American civil war (1861-1865)made by Mathew Brady. Thus,photography had never ever remained only as a
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scientific breakthrough rather it continued to developing as a formidable medium,ie its technical,artistic,making visual documents of all walks of life. By its very nature photography has been a kind of paradox existing simultaneously as both document and statement,yet it made its remarkable approach in the hands of revolutionary practitioners;the result were provocative and surrealistic;exploring the inner world of passion. During the whole 20th century, photography has been widely and effectively used in popular culture or consumerist market covering commercial, decoration, life style magazines to editorial and advertising pages. Fashions photographers are shoving their camera in New York, Paris, and other major studios. Even further most, post-modernists are practicing the complexities of the conceptual and almost surreal images making process creating a sense grotesque impressions. Such as the artist Cindy Sherman and her “Self Portraits” by turning the camera on herself is one of the most remarkable and successful photographs with ambiguity is the example of experimentalism. Some works of artists have created more contradictions in the field of image making processing. In this environment Nepali photography is no more in isolation through the current access of media and internet services and the growing passion amongst the photographers is undeniable fact. They are on move,lugging the cameras,lurking almost everywhere for the right moment or simply shooting pictures in a bed room,bath room,living room,or any private places and eager to show their works to the viewers or just to make their photographic statements. These are the perfect examples of progressive activities in the field of photographic art. And I called it “Progression Of Nepali Photography”. Reproduced with permission from the author and Chomolungma UNESCO Centre.