A midsummer dream

The internet is a strange thing. It's harder than ever to be alone. Stimulations 24x7. There is at least one other person out there who would rather hang out with you than be by him/her self. I met Petja at a local meet-up. And I knew when I saw her that it was time.

 Time to bring out my camera. I was nervous and excited at the thought of it. The skies opened up at the right time. and so it started again......

Is this it?

Breathe.
That's one thing we do no matter what is happening around us. And yet, why does it feel so weird when we try to focus on this one act.
Does it scare you too when you try to let go of all the clutter that we call 'life'? For once, can you stop living for the next day, planning your next activity, thinking of that one person or making your grocery list?
I can't. So I'm haunted by these questions....
If we are not living for the now, then what are we really living for? What is the purpose of life?
Why am I 'I"?
Who are we?

Model: Jeremy Hugall

It doesnt take long to gel with Jeremy. He's a very huggable person but can be a big pain sometimes. Oh well, aren't we all like that? :)

Thanks for reading. Ask those questions to yourself. Give me a buzz if you find the answers :)

Forever Young

heartfelt apologies to Joachim for having taken so long to process these pictures. i hope you'll be able to forgive me and trust photographers :=)

Saw this boy in a cosy little cafe in town and i've never recognized such a strong urge to photograph a face. like they say "there's always a first", i walked right up and introduced myself. Joachim was kind enough to agree to be photographed. i still remember he couldnt write down his number for me 'cause his hands were shaking. Little did he know that i was equally as nervous.

Joachim plays in a band (who wouldnt have guessed, right?). i wanted to capture a Dylan-ish look and kept everything toned down. was good to finally process pictures with an overshadowing theme. i hope to keep this trend up although i will never batch process my pictures.

hope you're having a wonderful week. Weekend's right around the corner!

Material Girl

Some girls have it all. As pretty as she looks, Kaia is an intelligent, unique and talented girl. Check out her music here.

( believe this is my favorite from the day).

It was such a great feeling getting out in this cold weather, waking up earlier than i would like on a sunday morning; freezing my hands and toes; carrying a bag full of clothes, shoes and accessories; waiting for people to move from a frame i picked; hungry and thirsty. The last time i had gone on a shoot was in the summer! I have missed this excitement, and i hope i will get to do this so much more often this year. I already have a victim on hand :D

i hope you have had a great start to this year!

Leavin on a Jetplane

Come on out and dance

If you get the chance,

We're gonna spit on the rivals.

All I wanna know,

Is how far you wanna go, 

fighting for survival

Tenzin Choetso blogs at becomingponytail. i like the simplicity and effortlessness in her style. She had emailed me when i had just got here in Nepal but it was only after a  month when i personally met up with her. Although we've only hung out a few times, it's been great knowing her and it's felt like we've been friends for a long time. Don't you just love it when that happens? Internet is a strange thing. 

This very day i also shot two boys i'd been planning to shoot for a long time now. i had a completely different concept in head. We had a go at it. But maybe i'm not ready. maybe the world's not ready yet to see such a concept. so i'll save it for later. maybe try it out with someone else. i'll let these photos suffice for now. 

Model: Bikash Rai

(tried to recreate one of Rai's photos. not sure if i did justice)

Model: Deepesh Shahi

thank you boys for being such a good sport both the days. Come rain or sunshine ;)

i have 4 days left in Nepal now. such.a.sad.feeling. i've been crying my eyes out, half not understanding how we can get so attached to a piece of land, and half not understanding why it is so hard some times to do the very things we ourselves have chosen! i feel guilty for leaving this place in the hands of others. i feel selfish for having thought just of myself while making my decision. i feel scared of a future where i'll be missing home.  and yet, i know im not going to do anything stupid and dramatic now. it's been an amazing 3 months but im going move on, be a sport :) and see where this life leads me. Most probably, all roads will lead me back home. 

Everything is impermanent

young and full of running

tell me where has that taken me?

just a great figure eight or a tiny infinity?

It's been exactly a month and a half since i got to Kathmandu and man, have i been busy! i'm actually thankful to the one/two bandhs a week that lets me stay at home. i'm still trying to get used to putting my phone on silent and drifting away from everything on these days though.

Working with Wave was definitely not planned! i'd just shot an email to one of the editors, we met and everything clicked. Yesterday shot the June cover-story pictures already!If you haven't checked out the May issue, please do so because i've attempted to write as well :) Although getting a whole crew together and making a big deal out of the concepts is fun, i've realised it's definitely not the same as shooting just for my own pleasure. Of course,  i am getting full freedom to bring in my concepts and play with the photos as i want at Wave. But stripped from the money aspect and the slightest pressure to please certain people on time, personal shoots are what fuels me i find. If i've learnt anything in the last months, it is that i am not a hero. i cannot make a model out of anyone. that my skills depend so much on getting the right persons and i feel humbled. And above all, i feel so very lucky to be living my dreams. THIS is exactly what i'd wanted for a long long while. and like everything....i'm ready for this not to last.

On a different note, i'm updating because i had another shoot with Noal Gurung. It was super fun because i got to play with a Canon 5D mark II and flash lights, thanks to Sworup. The first time i touched that beauty, i felt so bad because i wanted to completely ignore my Canon EOS 450D. but this time around, i felt more comfortable with the realisation of the fact that no matter what camera it is, it wouldn't cook up concepts for you. (i'm just saying because i cannot afford a 5D mark II :P)

p.s the left one was taken with the 5D mark II. right one with the EOS 450D!!!. 

Lastly, i want to apologize to all the people i've promised to meet up with but haven't been able to :( All i can say for now is that i still have two months here and Kathmandu is a very small town :)

Baby's Romance

Chris Garneu because i don't think any other voice would do justice to Noal's face..

i had an amazing shoot with Noal. Had seen his pictures on facebook before and saw so much potential. i love his bone structure and gorgeous jawline and thought it'd be interesting to contrast the innocent look with some daring concepts.

The crown went so perfectly well with Noal's sleek hair and thereafter was no turning back.

three little girls walked past us and one actually screamed at the sight of Noal. it was hilarious! plus a random tourist thought the most worthy attraction at the GoD was Noal and took some snapshots!

i hope you love the result of the shoot as much as i do.

p.s i don't feel guilty about stopping (temporarily?) with the 52 weeks self-portraits project. i think it was high time to move away from myself and make use of all the beauty around me. but maybe i will pick up where i left once i go back :)

Norwegian Style

 

Hello World! This is a long overdue update. I shot Fredrik in Oslo two weeks back and had quite a great time. The thing i really liked about his face was that he had so many looks. One moment he could look like Jake Gyllenhaal and the next minute he could look like someone else. It was really a joy :)

On another note, i'm here in India en route to Nepal. i feel so privileged to get to take such a long break at home and i intend to make every day count. If anyone who's reading this is in Nepal and wants to meet up, i'm game :)

Do expect to see more street stuff. 

i am here

Find out which shot i was most pleased with from this shoot here :)

Also find out how i answered questions from an interview with blogger/photographer Alex Cameron here :)

i know i've been boring people with a lot of talk on philosophy and mindfulness. these things sound hard-to-digest for those caught up in a cycle of busy-ness and to-do-lists. but what if i tell you you can feel calmer. you'll have clarity. you'll feel happy. you don't need to read books or meditate. all you have to do is think less. stop dwelling over what you couldn't do and where you should be. give your whole to what you are doing right now. give it a try!