Those were the first photographs, taken by him to be published in a newspaper, which later motivated him to take more pictures. [break]
This was the silver lining in the dark cloud of death of a dear one as the incident encouraged him to venture into the field of photography.
For, Kharel now 29, who is now settled in Kathmandu, photography is all about passion and it is this ardor which enabled his work to be selected for two prominent international photography festivals to be held at Cambodia and India this year.
He has always been fascinated by the media and in 2004, Kharel joined Kantipur Daily as a photographer, interning for the publication. Now an independent photographer, Kharel has specialized in editorial and documentary.
Another milestone in his career came about when he got his first official assignment which was to cover the Maoist insurgency in Nepalgunj in 2004. He was able to document human side of war and the sufferings of the people in the conflict ridden places.
His work, however, was not published in the Daily due to press censorship.
“As a journalist my work is to report the truth and at that point of time, when my work was not published, I felt my right to expression was taken away,” explains Kharel.
But he had kept a record of those pictures and that event encouraged him to continue taking more pictures.
It is his same documentation titled, “Long, Rugged Road to Republic” which he was been working on since 2004 that has been selected for digital exhibition in Delhi Photo Festival, soon to take place from October 15 to 28 in India.
The Delhi Photo Festival 2011 is a biennial exhibition which brings photography, democratic art form into public space to create awareness and initiate dialogue among enthusiasts and practitioners.
With regard to subjects of his photography Kharel’s focus has always been on marginalized communities and ventures beyond ordinary events to investigate.
“The story highlights the struggles faced by people due to the decade long armed conflict to the peace process. It was a political happening but for me it revealed the suffering of people and I was interested in capturing their emotions,” he adds.
“Visual story telling has great power and a good picture validates the photographer’s creativity,” he adds. Moreover, he believes that pictures should make people inquisitive and portray the passion of the photographer.
Kharel, eventually started participating at international workshops and has also attended the Angkor Workshop at Cambodia, in 2007.
His another work titled ‘Koshi Tragedy’ has been selected for screening in Angkor Photo Festival, which will take place from November 19 to 26 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Initiated in 2005, Angkor Photo Festival is the first photography festival to be held in Southeast Asia.
The same work was also recently showcased in Chobi-Mela VI, International Festival of Photography in Dhaka in 2009.
“Koshi Tragedy is the story of flood victims from eastern Nepal,” he explains. This is a personal on-going project that Kharel has been documenting since 2008, just after the Koshi floods.
Talking about the current scenario of photography in Nepal, Kharel thinks that it has evolved over the years.
“Photographers used to follow the conventional method of taking pictures but now the concept has changed. Today, sharing structures and platforms has been built so there’s more interaction among the photographers,” he opines.
Kharel laments that Nepal lacks the presence of valid institutions where people can learn photography.
But being hopeful, he adds, “With the increase of publication houses more photographers are being provided with a platform to express their works and ideas.”
In the future, Kharel plans to continue with his projects and aims to organize workshops on visual story telling.
For aspiring young people who want to pursue their career in the field of photography, Kharel says, “First ask yourself why you would want to be a photographer only then will you will find direction.”
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