His American experiences

KATHMANDU, Dec 10: The life of Kashish Das Shrestha, who shuttles back and forth between Kathmandu and New York City every six months or so, alternating his profession between an environmentalist and a photographer, seems all too cool to be true for a 27-year-old. He came to Kathmandu in September and will fly back to the US in January.[break]

Sitting back on a chair at the Dokhaima Café in Patan, he candidly puts in, “It feels really odd to be on this side.”

The young man who has been featured by different medias from magazines to television, reminisces his days when he started out as a writer for the music section of Wave magazine in 2000, of which he later became the editor.

“I was born into a family of photographers, but I never really took it up seriously until I joined Wave,” reveals Kashish, a 4th generation photographer in his family who established the historic Das Studio in 1927 in Darjeeling, a branch of which opened up in Kathmandu in the 60s.

“My family is more involved in commercial studio photography while I began by taking pictures outside the studio, mostly at music events in Kathmandu,” says Kashish, who ventured into digital photography only in 2005.

“I’m too pampered now and I can’t imagine switching back to manual films,” says the documentary photographer.

In January 2003, Kashish left for the United States as a tourist but decided to stay on. While he did odd jobs and took up unpaid photography assignments to increase his network, he also enrolled into The New School in Manhattan from which he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies.

Nearly seven years later, Kashish is working as a freelance photographer who is called upon by big multinational companies, such as the Metro Daily and Red Bull.

“I still photograph music events along with social events and fashion shows,” informs the shutterbug who started out in the US with a minimum pay of US$10 per hour and now earns US$150 for the same.

Apart from keeping up with the expenses of living in a costly city such as New York, his earnings as a photographer have enabled him to further his passion as an environment activist in Nepal where he heads 350NEPAL, a research and action group which works for sustainable development, environment conservation, and sustainable development. Not to mention that he regularly contributes to Republica as well.

“As a kid, my sources of inspiration were three magazines that my father had a collection of—Newsweek, Time, and Life,” asserts this multi-talented personality, and adds, “But most importantly, it was my access to the National Geography channel that inspired me to pursue photography and environment conservation.”

Today, Kashish will be busy preparing for his solo photography exhibition set to open at the Siddhartha Art Gallery (SAG) of Baber Mahal Revisited in Kathmandu on Friday, December 11.

“The exhibition is titled ‘Marfa to Manhattan.’ Marfa with an ‘f’,” clarifies Kashish and continues, “Marfa is a remote place in Texas and has nothing to do with our Marpha.”

The exhibition will showcase images of different lifestyles and cultures of the US based on Kashish’s experiences.

Marfa to Manhattan will open at 5 pm on Friday, December 11 at SAG, and will remain open till December 31.