Nepal And Photography: An Introduction

Photography was first introduced in Nepal in the late !860's by the ruling Ranas as portraits and documentation of their lives and institutions.But it was the 1960's when Nepalese  began to explore photography. The lack of an independent media limited the development of photojournalism until the 1990's.

Similarly, it was difficult to establish an independent organization for photographers to learn from each other and jointly promote their art until the founding of the Amateur Photographers Association of Nepal in 1987, which went through several incarnations and became the Nepal Photographic Society in 1992. Lastly, cameras themselves had been a bit of a scarce commodity in Nepal as they had to be imported and were beyond the financial means of most people until the last few decades.

The last little more than ten years has seen an unprecedented flourishing of Nepali photography. Cameras are present at almost every major event and family portraits and photo albums are prized in almost every middle class home; postcards, posters and photo books reveal an amazing range of the photogenic people, culture, land, and architecture of Nepal; local newspapers and magazines tell powerful photographic stories; and both amateur and professional Nepali photographers are wowing the public in many fields: documentary, landscape, wildlife, portrait, photojournalism, commercial, and even some abstract photographic art.

Still the lack of institution for proper photography studies is there.In fact only Kathmandu University(Bachelors in fine arts with graphic photography) and Nationalphotography Institute(Basic and advanced courses) provide such courses.So the armature photographers have to learn with the help of the web and others like them.I hope blogs like these helps them with the information,tips and hints to further develop their skills and to get in touch with similar people who share their interest.