Old Stories

Film cameras were stone aged technologies compared to digital photography today. One has to wait to finish all 36 shots and take them to lab and wait 3 days to be printed out. It was always kind of blind investment. Not to mention damage of negative by accidental light exposure.

There were days when you shoot your photos and you submit to print your photos. And all films were collected from Katmandu and flown to Bangkok and developed and printed and flown back. Boy that business was booming. This was time where Kodak, Fuji film expand their market in Katmandu. 

Holding 35 mm camera in hand was considered as lucky fellow. Mastering on it was kind of heroism act. Only those who had lots of money and want to live by the profession desperately was lucky for that.

 

Not to mention all the print out were monochrome and each photographer were suppose to have dark room and learn developing process. Artistic photography had no value at all. They were considered as outcaste and were destined to garbage. 

 

Rarely any photographer in Kathmandu had ever dared to venture in that sector. it was like  once upon a time, a son of portrait painter in Royal palace later turned to a photographer, had ventured landscape photography to surrounding hills of Katmandu and upto Bhainse. But Rana ministers and family portraits were main business. Hunting camps of Rana ministers were another great adventure to shoot. But contemporary Nepalese photographer rarely dared. which is still true case today.

 

No wonder we find foreign photographer holding sovereignty on Nepalese landscape photography from 1900 to till date.

 

 

First Digital Camera

Wandering around with camera was always in my dream. It took more than 20 years to bring it into realization. The cost that comes in a Tag was not light. But gradually found out enough time to play with this "boy'z toys".

I still remember, the day I had to find a tall building in the area where I live, just to shoot sunset and town below. This was a government building under construction, and the security guard was very suspicious of my continious coming and going late evening. One day he finally was courageous enough to gather some construction workers after heavy booz, to interrogate me (which ended up with all nonsense bad mouthing on their side, despite me being polite). 

That was the time, where, I almost lost my newly brought digital camera and all the photos in it.  That was two and half years back.