Shikhar

Shikhar Bhattarai is an independent Nepali photographer based in Kathmandu who is passionate about landscapes, wildlife and documentary photography.

I first came across Shikhar's photostream on flickr whilst researching photographers for my trip to Nepal and instantly felt a connection with his work, so I was delighted when he accepted to be the first to participate in my “Latitude f/2.8” project.

Shikhar and I actually bumped into each other during Jazzmandu as he was covering a gig... or rather I bumped into him. When I saw Shikhar shooting some close-up shots of the band I knew it was him even if I had only seen a few of his self-portraits on flickr. I was so excited that I ran to him to introduce myself and started asking him a ton of questions before realizing he was there on assignment and probably had better things to do. Thankfully, my erratic behaviour didn't scare him off and we agreed to meet later on for the actual interview :) Seeing as we kept bumping into each other during Jazzmandu, it seemed natural to meet again in Jazz Upstairs which is the prime jazz venue in KTM.

JL: So how did your Jazzmandu assignment go? Are you happy with the results? 

SB: Mmmm... well (laughing), I actually find shooting live music quite difficult. I'm used to take my time thinking about my shots, so managing to capture THE moment during a gig where a lot of things happen spontaneously is a challenge. I have shot some events before but rather the quiet type, like conferences where things are more predictable. All in all I think it went ok though. The Repubblica newspaper is publishing some of my Jazzmandu shots this Friday (published Nov 4th), so I'm really excited!

JL: Your portfolio shows a real diversity: landscapes, portrait, self-portraits... What are you into at the moment? 

A moth feeding on nectar

 SB: When I started photography a few years ago I was very much into landscape and nature photography, I love wildlife. My first camera was a point-and-shoot and I had fun doing a lot of macro-photography with it, you wouldn't believe what the macro function on those little cameras can achieve, the only thing is you have to stand very close to your subject so they tend to fly away before you can catch them. I am quite a reserved person, so photography has become the medium through which I can express myself and share my views with other people. Macro photography is great because it allows you to capture things that many people just pass by and do not see so you really introduce them to a hidden world. Wildlife has always been a source of inspiration and it gave me a breakthrough when I won 1st prize in the category macro in a national contest organized by the Wildlife Conversation of Nepal with this shot.

JL: I agree with you, one of the best things about being a photographer is seeing things that most people might be oblivious to. Do you think “having an eye” is something that's in you from the beginning or is it something you can become good at?

SB: I think you need to be curious and willing to try different things but as you practice photography you definitely learn to see things differently. In the recent years I've moved towards documentary photography and it's yet a whole new world to discover.

JL: And that's what your upcoming exhibition is about isn't it? 

The Cleaner of Nepal

SB: Yes, I had the opportunity to participate in a 14-week long master-class with Mads Nissen, a Danish photographer who's recently won the World Press award for his story ‘In the Name of Victoria’ which he shot in Nepal. I had done shorter workshops before but this was much more of a commitment and we learned a lot from Mads. The end goal of the masterclass was to present our own visual story on a topic of our choice. Initially I had planned to go to Jajarkot in Western Nepal for my reportage but it was monsoon season and due to landslides the roads got blocked and I couldn't do what I had planned. One day as I was walking in KTM, frustrated about my aborted project, I stumble upon this man, who is a real character in the city. Everyone knows him because he's quite vocal and opinionated and writes religious and political slogans. But many people don’t know who he really is. So I decided to make him the subject of my visual story. I managed to get through to him thanks to a relation of mine and he agreed to let me follow him for a few weeks. The resulting shots are my contribution to the exhibition.

JL: What angle did you choose to tell this man's story? 

SB: I wanted to show his personal story and who he really is as opposed to the public character that most people see in the streets of KTM. The big challenge was to figure out how to tell a compelling story in a limited number of shots. It was the first time I was doing documentary photography focusing on one single person. I didn't have the array of possibilities that I was used to when working on broader topics, like my work on Water Shortage for example, so I really had to push my boundaries to extract what makes him unique.

JL: What is your biggest learning from doing this master-class? 

SB: I learned a lot about editing and post-processing. Over the weeks, we spent a lot of time in the evenings to review our shots and critique each other's work. That was sometime painful but a great way to progress! Taking pictures is the easy part, the difficult one is to select the shots that really take you to the core of the story you're trying to tell.

JL: We got to know each other thanks to flickr and the main purpose of the “Latitude f/2.8" project, is to get to know the people who are behind my contacts' profile pics. What does being part of an online community like flickr or 500px mean to you as a professional photographer? Does it influence the way you approach your work or is it merely a window to showcase your work? 

SB: First, I don't consider myself as a professional photographer (shy smile on :). You know, I came to photography a little bit by chance. When I was younger I couldn't afford to take photography class or buy a big camera. Since I was studying IT though, my parents had to install an internet connection at home for me and that's how I started exploring online resources and joined flickr. I started posting the pics I was taking with my point-and-shoot and I met some local photographers through flickr. Actually 10 of us got together to put up an exhibition in 2009 so I can say flickr is a great way to meet like-minded photographers. But I mainly use flickr and other online communities as a way to progress technically. I never had a formal training on how to use a camera so being able to see other photographer's shots, to check the exif data of a shot or simply contact them to ask how they took or processed a shot is a great way of learning.

JL: Is there a photographer on flickr whose work you admire in particular? 

SB: I really like the work of LJ’s on flickr - I'm not sure what his real name is actually! He mainly does portraits of poor people and I like the fact that there is a strong story to tell behind each shot he takes. But I also draw inspiration from a lot of photographer outside of the flickr community. I'm very interested in photo-journalism and I really admire the work of James Nachtwey. A good place to start is to check the TED talk he gave, he's great! I also got to work with Jodi Bieber in a workshop organized by the Finnish Press Photographers Association and Photo Raw Magazine in co-operation with photo.circle. That's when I did this reportage on Water Shortage. It was great to work with someone who's won a World Press Award and sharing your work with someone from abroad is always enriching because they bring different perspectives with them.

JL: Is there a shot that you are particularly proud of?

Water crisis in KTM

SB: Not one in particular, I haven't got that moment yet where I thought “WOW I nailed it” (laughing). If I had to pick one though, it would be the shot of the little boy running with a water bucket in his hands which is part of the Water Shortage reportage. As I saw him running, I realized there was a dog on his way and I thought “it would be really cool if he jumped over the dog instead of avoiding it”... and he did! Because I had anticipated the scene, I managed to capture that very moment which lasted only for a split second, and right then I was very happy.

JL: As you said, photo-journalism enables you to tell stories and bring people's awareness to the topics that are important to you. How did growing and living in Nepal influence your work?

Jungle of Kathmandu

SB: You know, photography in Nepal is almost “nothing”. Photo-journalism does not really exist and the few photographers who are lucky to work with big newspapers often don't do by passion but just as a way to earn a living. And whether inside or outside the country there is very little exposure for Nepali photo-journalists. But you have to keep in mind that Nepal is a 3rd world country and I think there is a lot of stories waiting to be told. 5 years ago when the civil war ended we thought we were entering a transition period, well 5 years later nothing has changed and we're still “in transition”. The successive governments have not even been able to make everyone agree on a new Constitution for the country, so change is a long process.

JL: The fact that you're talking about Nepal as 3rd world-country reminds me of a phrase I saw in the introduction to your “Water Shortage” documentary: “how can the people of this country show their creativity when we constantly have to worry about our basic needs?” Where does this quote come from? 

SB (smiling): actually my mum said that... well she said it in Nepali and I translated it into English! She said it in relation to water shortage which used to happen very often. At some point a few years ago, there was constant shortage of everything at the same time, water, electricity. It's true: how can you hope to pursue higher goals if you cannot even fulfil your basic needs.

JL: Do you think that this hinders creativity in Nepal? 

SB: I think it has to a certain extent. As far as photography is concerned, I think it is slowly but surely developing now in Nepal. There are more serious amateur photographs online and even on the streets, I notice that more Nepali have big cameras which you used to see hanging around tourists necks only, so that's a good sign.

JL: Are there any places in KTM that inspire you more than others? Any insider tip for photographers coming to KTM for the first time?

SB:For me it's not one place in particular in KTM. Contrary to a lot of Nepali people I don't own a bike so I walk a lot and when you walk you see a lot of things. I like walking on the river banks for example, it's less crowded and there are lots of very old houses. Bhaktapur is another inspiring place, because it's what KTM probably looked like 100 years ago, people still live in a very traditional way and the old city is very well preserved. But mostly I like getting out of KTM, I love travelling, trekking and meeting new people and in the last few years I've travelled a lot around Nepal to see the places I'd never been to before.

JL: You have an exhibition and the associated book coming up soon, that's big! Is there any photographic challenge you'd like to tackle next? 

The Constant Change

 SB: Definitely strobist (note: strobist usually refers to images taken with small, portable off-camera flashes). Lighting is so technical and complex, I'd love to learn and do more of it. I don't stick to one type of photography, I like trying new things and learn new techniques. You know a camera is just a tool and particularly in Nepal people cannot afford big sophisticated cameras and lenses so your only chance of growing as a photographer is to use your head, get out there and try out new things.

JL: Thanks very much Shikhar, it's great to learn more about you and get to know who's behind my flickr contact, so thank you for answering all my questions! There's one last question I'd like to ask: what happened to your hair? I saw some of your auto-portraits where it was muuuuch longer! :) 

SB: Haha! That's true, I used to cut them only once a year... I guess that was consistent with listening to a lot of rock music and going to underground rock bands in KTM... maybe I've just grown-up a little bit :)

You can find out more about Shikhar's work here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shikhar23

http://shikhar23.blogspot.com/

http://500px.com/ShikharBhattarai