Nepali photographer Dikpal Thapa’s photo entitled ‘The Harvest’ has bagged Sony World Photography National Award 2019 on Tuesday. World Photography Organization announced the list of winner across 67 countries on its website.

 Thapa told My City that he was very pleased to win the National Award. “This is the biggest achievement for me. I am proud that the photo also represents Nepal’s culture globally,” Thapa said.

“I think despite of progress in photography in recent times, photographers are hardly getting exposure to international platforms. They hardly participate in international events due to lack of know—how to get connected to such opportunities. This achievement reflects that talents, anilities and good efforts are well appreciated,” he added.

Thapa will receive $ 5,000 worth latest digital equipment from Sony. Furthermore, his winning photo of honey hunting will be published in 2019 Award’s book and is set to being exhibited at the Sony Photography Awards Exhibition in London from April-May 18.

Thapa lamented that despite adequate potential places for photography in Nepal, Nepali photographer hardly visit hidden places of the country. “Most of us visit mainstream tourist destinations. Foreigners at a large extent have explored those places and capitalized all those potentialities through photography and documentary. I strongly feel we should reflect the hidden part of the world through our works.”

For 2019, he is planning to work on a similar project like honey hunting to introduce Nepali unexplored culture to the world. He further added, “Receiving the award has motivated me to explore Nepal. So I’ve planned to visit numerous places, explore and depict the lesser-known cultures to the world.”