Photo student displays Nepalese culture

By Karen Plant
J-School Web reporter

Photographs of young children playing with a toy revolver, a man harvesting grass for traditional hand-made paper products, and women bathing in holy water vividly display the culture and lifestyle of the Nepali people.

photo by Allison Kwesell

A homeless boy in downtown Kathmandu.

Allison Kwesell, a UM photojournalism student who lived and interned in Kathmandu, recently shared her photographs and stories of Nepal during UM’s International Education week. Her work gives insight to the people of this Third World country who have suffered years of violent civil war and socioeconomic decline.

“The political situation in Nepal is really intense and a large part of that is what creates the culture there right now,” Kwesell said.  Still, her work focused on the day-to-day lives of the Nepali people.

Kwesell interned for Nepalese newspapers for eight months, beginning in the fall of 2006. She covered about three to five stories each day on daily news, sports coverage and political activism. Her stories and photographs were published in Nepal’s national newspaper, the English-language Kathmandu Post. Her photos also appeared in the Nepalese version of the publication, the Kantipur Daily .

photo by Allison Kwesell

Tibetan refugee children in Nepal play with a toy gun.

In addition, several of Kwesell’s full-page feature stories were published in the paper’s City Post section. She covered the Ghode Jatra, the festival of the horse; the sights and sounds of Kathmandu’s Durbar Square, and her trip across Nepal’s countryside to the city of Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha.

Kwesell traveled to many parts of the country, using public transportation.  And although violent uprisings often occur in the area, “it is a risk you have to take,” Kwesell said. While Kwesell’s mother was visiting her for three weeks, the two were caught in a strike and couldn’t leave the city bus for 12 hours.  They were not harmed, but the event was unnerving.

Transportation strikes are frequents, Kwesell said. 

photo by Allison Kwesell

Moaist supporters rally in front of Bhrikuti Mandap holding up traffic in front of Tunkikhel.

“No vehicles can be on the road, and you will hear about a taxi being blown up or someone getting shot,” she said.  “The Maoist terrorist group, the government group, or all city workers, or all airport workers or someone will call for a strike. Usually that means there will be a curfew, so anyone outside after certain hours will be a target.”

But the danger does not hinder Kwesell’s desire to return to the area.

Kwesell lived in India and Nepal in 2004 and 2005 while studying abroad. She spent about a month photographing the after-effects of the tsunami that struck India in December 2004. She also taught English at a university in China before coming to the University of Montana for her junior year of college.  

And when she learned of an opportunity to return to Nepal, she went for it.

“I decided I really wanted to go back there to work as a journalist,” she said. So she applied for the internship, wrote a grant and was able to get funding to travel back to Nepal.

While interning in Nepal, Kwesell collected a portfolio full of photos and stories.  Her work can be viewed on her Web site.

Kwesell plans to return to south Asia and the Middle East after completing her master’s in cultural anthropology. Meanwhile, she enjoys keeping in contact with her Nepali editors and friends.

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