Former Republica photojournalist Thoker secures second position in int'l photo contest

May 1, 2023: Photojournalist Keshab Raj Thoker from Nepal has won an international photo contest. He won a silver award in a photo competition named Asian Press Photo 2023, organized by the Asian Art Association Singapore.

His photo story won second place in the category of Women's Rights. Thoker's work was based on Buddhist nuns from one of the monasteries in Kathmandu who were defying the century-old tradition of discrimination against women and promoting gender equality. A Bangladeshi photographer won first place in the contest. The winners get 1,000 Singapore dollars for each subject.

"I'm delighted to have won the competition. The fact that photojournalists from Nepal could also compete at international level and get their works recognized makes me feel even more pleased," said Thoker. Thoker, a former photojournalist of Republica, is the first person from Nepal to win the competition. 

The jury of the Asian level photo contest were Chung Yi Chieh from Taiwan, Mohammad Rakibul Hasan from Bangladesh, Bruce Lui from Hong Kong, Fabeha Monir from Bangladesh, Jimmy Domingo from the Philippines, Emre Kuheylan from Turkey and Rohit Vohra from India.

Here are the photos of Thokar’s winning photo story: