It’s been over a decade and a half since NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati co-founded Photo Circle, an organisation dedicated to providing resources and a sturdy support system for photographers, visual artists and film-makers in Kathmandu in the form of mentorship programs, exhibitions, grants and so on. But most importantly, by giving them a sense of community and a space conducive to the exchange of ideas which is a rare undertaking in Nepal due to their limited arts infrastructure. “In 2015, we set up Photo KTM, the festival, because it felt like here in Nepal, unless you have the privilege to travel, you don't get a lot of access and exposure to the arts; there isn't a very big museum or gallery scene. The festival is an attempt to try to breach that gap,” says Gurung.
A biennial event, Photo KTM festival’s latest edition took place in March earlier this year but the theme was unlike its previous editions that tended to the documentary and educational arts scene. The team hosted an intensive and hands-on 4-day fashion and visual culture workshop, led by Delhi-based photographer Adil Hasan along with stylist and co-founder of talent agency Feat Artists, Nikhil D. Open to Kathmandu’s budding art directors, models, stylists, photographers and pretty much any Nepali fashion enthusiasts, the workshop would be a golden opportunity for them to develop a visual campaign from mood-board to post-production, in the company of South-Asian experts in the field.
Gurung, Hasan and Nikhil D’s decision to highlight the nitty-gritty of commercial fashion photography to the workshop participants by having them engage in a full-fledged campaign production was by every means, intentional and the result of a series of informal conversations about why creatives are often shunned for taking upon commercial projects as opposed to editorial ones.
“We’ve been talking about this sort of total value system that sometimes gets created that we end up somehow buying into,” explains Gurung. “On the one hand, we're always struggling and discussing the need for support and funding in the arts and for independent practitioners. Therefore, a lot of artists, both young and old, regardless of how long they have been at it, end up taking on commercial jobs in order to sustain themselves. But somehow we don't center the commercial work that we do, it's always pushed aside due to shame –one does not want to necessarily admit that one is doing commercial work. We've been questioning - why there a need to create hierarchies? Fashion is a genre that has such a massive impact on the larger visual culture, informing it in such a specific way. So this time, the idea for this workshop came about with addressing this head on”, she says.
In addition, Prabal Gurung, the renowned Nepalese designer who is now based in New York, also made his way to Kathmandu for a brief interaction with the participants, leaving them both starry-eyed and inspired. His journey from Kathmandu to the world is mentally bookmarked by virtually every Nepali creative, and rightly so. The designer also provided them with complete access to his archives in the city, a selection of various garments from his shows held over the past 7-8 years, for the purpose of the campaign shoot which starred starkly different personalities who were anything but mainstream models.
The diverse casting process, led by Photo KTM’s Gurung and Nikhil D, was an exercise in local representation to lead the workshop participants by example. A hip-hop dancer and teacher to kids, a queer rights activist, a transgender model running PINK Tiffany, the first queer bar in Nepal – “the crux of the shoot is actually with the cast,” state Hasan and Nikhil D in unison. The duo was mindful of the fact that they were not Nepali and it wouldn’t make sense to conduct a workshop in Nepal without showcasing its people and community in a way that pushes the envelope and looks beyond cultural stereotypes. As Gurung accurately puts it, “It was exciting to see Kathmandu showcased in a new light through this shoot; not doused in Shangri-La connotations or a hippie tourist hangover from the sixties.”
Shot in culturally relevant hotspots frequented by Kathmandu’s youth such as Snowman café on Freak Street which has been there since the seventies, the lush landscapes and foliage of Kirtipur and Patan Durbar Square which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, the final outcome perfectly documents the zeitgeist of urban culture in Nepal that is ripe for experimentation and expressiveness. “Most of the places we shot at are where we’d often hang out after college and work, which made it all the more significant and special for me because I grew up in these streets,” says Jenisha Maharjan, a hip-hop artist and co-founder and creative director of Nepal HipHop Foundation, who was selected as one of the models.
Prabal’s high-octane clothes amplified the intent with its succinct draping and vibrant colour palette, not stealing the spotlight but still lending further character to every backdrop self-assuredly. Models lounged in pleated colour-blocked and fluorescent dresses against Kathmandu’s valleys and flora, took their wheels for a ride at the local skateboard park in sequined creations and sipped on Fanta while recording each other through old-school camcorders in printed blouses and cut-out dresses. “I think the outcome successfully conveys a certain personality of the city. Kathmandu has very much been like a character in this whole storytelling exercise, in addition to the individuals in the cast,” believes Gurung.
Workshops and ventures like this in the country are just the beginning for what is a developing industry and a preferred gathering point for regional collaborations amongst South Asians from across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and so on, without the hassle of visa restrictions.
“Despite being a small city and all the shortcomings in terms of infrastructure, I think the art system is growing in exciting ways in Nepal. Somehow there not being a very big commercial art market here is actually freeing. So not having gallery systems, huge art fairs or communities of collectors for example, actually allows for artists to develop their voice and their positionality in an environment that is free of market pressures”, signs off Gurung. It’s only onwards and upwards now.
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