When she smiled, her well formed even, white teeth brighted her whole face and her thick, long black hair fell down to her shoulders. . Subeksha Shrestha, however, is not just a pretty face, she can boast being the youngest photographer according to the Guinness Book of World Record.[break]
Recently, Shrestha conducted a solo exhibition at Nepal Art Council, Babarmahal. The exhibition showcased her photographs which highlighted various social and cultural aspects of Nepali society. The photographs at the exhibition were based on specific themes like landscape, temples, tourism areas, political affairs, status of Nepal and scenes among other motifs. The show was a collage of the photographs Shrestha had taken since she was seven years old.
Rajendra Shrestha, a professional photographer and father of Subeksha said “Most of the pictures taken by Subeksha have a feature of liveliness,” adding, “Her photographs give a kind of positive and encouraging message.”
He also mentioned that she is the first young photographer to have identified an image of Lord Buddha in the chest of Lord Shiva’s statue located at Sanga Bhanjyang, Bhaktapur. Shrestha, however was sadly surprised about the controversy over the photograph being edited through Photoshop, an image editing software. “One can go and observe the statue at any time if s/he is not convinced,” he said.
Shrestha has been taking photographs since she was seven. The first picture she took was in 2003 of Surya Bahadur Thapa when he was the prime minister at that time. Presently, she’s studying in grade 10 at St. Mary’s High School and is very conscious about her studies. She shared that she tried her best to attend classes even when her exhibitions were held.
“Just gaining fame and money is not Subeksha’s goal. She has to learn and work a lot more and for that she needs support from the entire country,” mentioned Shrestha.
As a kid, she always went with her father wherever he went to take photographs and learned numerous things about photography.
When talking about career development, the young photographer asserted that it is not necessary to become a doctor or an engineer. She believes that “Photography is a good career choice and if one is dedicated to the field, it can give you the same satisfaction as any occupation.”
Shrestha also mentioned that she wasn’t a photographer by force but by choice. “My inspiration is my father. He handed over his photographic career to me and now I would like to hand it over to my brother Rijendra Shrestha who is aged five" she said.
Besides photography, she is fond of sketching, painting, listening to music, playing the violin, creating designs, editing and animating photos.There’s no doubt that Shrestha has a lot more to learn but her photographer father believes that she has already begun her journey to success.
When talking about his daughter, Rajendra Shrestha said “With determination and support from her family members and teachers, I know she can fulfill her ambition to do something different in the field of photography and make Nepal famous.”
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