SDN Education:
March 1-10, 2025
9 days/9 nights in Kathmandu and surrounding areas
$4,900 single through Nov. 1, 2025. $5,200 after Nov. 1
$4,500 per person double through Nov. 1, 2025. $4,800 after Nov. 1
Explore Nepal with a National Geographic photographer from Paris and a Nepalese photojournalist in Kathmandu to learn techniques and skills of visual storytelling while photographing some of the many challenges facing this mountainous nation sandwiched between the high Tibetan Plateau and subtropical northern India.
Award-winning French photojournalist and documentary photographer William Daniels will lead the group for the first five days while providing daily feedback and instruction. Nepalese photographer and visual storyteller Uma Bista will take over for the final four days providing insights from the perspective of a visual storyteller steeped in the culture, traditions, and challenges of her home country.
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Workshop Themes You will learn techniques and theory of ethical photographic practice while also learning from leading professional photographers how to work in the field under changing and challenging conditions, and coming back each day with meaningful photographs that will tell stories about conditions in Nepal. Climate Change and How it is Affecting Daily Life in Nepal
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Women in Nepal: At Home, at Work, and in the Community
Photographs by Uma Bista |
Most of your time will be spent using your camera as a tool of exploration as you meet face to face with the people intimately involved in the above issues and gathering visual evidence to tell their stories. Participants may choose to also capture audio and video documentation, although the focus will be around the still image.
Evenings will be spent reviewing your work with Daniels, Bista, and the other participants including Glenn Ruga, SDN Founder & Director. You will gain conceptual and technical knowledge on how to most effectively use photography and visual documentation to bring awareness to these socially significant stories. We will also spend one evening meeting with Nepalese photographers to learn about their work and challenges.
We will provide optional reading materials about Nepal and the topics listed above and participants are encouraged to do their own research on these topics.
Photo by Eric Chang.
Participants are encouraged to work on a completed visual storytelling project following the workshop under the guidance of SDN founder and director Glenn Ruga. Participants may use the SDN web platform and projects will become eligible for both the ZEKE Award for Documentary Photography and publication in ZEKE magazine (published by SDN).
Ample time during the workshop will be allotted for you to visit and photograph the many beautiful cultural and historic sites, as well as capture the beauty of Nepal and its people. This will be done both as guided tours as part of the workshop, or on your own if you choose.
You will spend five nights at the historic Kathmandu Guest House (KGH) in the renowned Thamel neighborhood (of 1960's hippie fame) and four nights at the Patan KGH, a heritage hotel in the heart of old Patan City, Kathmandu.
Sign up early to secure your placement as we will only be hosting no more than 10 participants.
Questions?
Email info@socialdocumentary.net
The second part of the workshop will focus on the changing role of women in Nepal. Gender relations have been undergoing significant changes over the past few decades, driven by a combination of social, political, economic, and cultural changes. Participants in the workshop will document both the traditional, confined roles and the transition to more empowered, active participation in all aspects of society and how this may be different between rural and urban communities. Course instructor Uma Bista has significant experience in addressing this issue in her home country and, in coordination with workshop advisor Sharu Joshi, will arrange venues to photograph and talk to women across many different strata of society.