Without a destination

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Nepal | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | 5 photos

A place is but an empty shell without its people.
I was born in Nepal, where my family emigrated to from Bhutan. It is common for young Nepalese to dream of moving to a foreign country in hopes of a better future. And so as I turned 18, I moved to India for college and then to Norway for a masters degree in Business. Last year in 2009, I visited Nepal after 2 years in Europe. I discovered my passion for photography in 2008. So this time when I went around Kathmandu, I felt I was looking at the city with a different set of eyes. I had never appreciated my country more.
The five photos that I send for this competition portray bits of variety found in the capital city. Life in Nepal has been very difficult especially because of the political turmoil. But the Nepalese people had moved on. Festivals and celebrations proceeded as normal. Religion still played a huge role in the day-to-day lives. My goal here is to tell a story of acceptance and faith among the Nepalese.
My artistic goal is to expose the beauty of local cultures to the world. I am also interested in fashion photography, and thus aim to combine fashion and local cultures to create educational art.
Should I win, this would be a very personal journey for me since I have never had the chance to visit the country of my family’s heritage. I aspire to learn about exposing culture and landscape from Jason. Ultimately, hoping to be an inspiration to the youth in following their dreams and helping in preservation of local cultures.