Prof. Kevin Bubriski first visited Nepal in 1975 as a 20-year-old Peace Corps volunteer. He came with a deep curiosity about the place and a Leica M3 camera in hand. He began taking photos of the people he met and the landscapes he saw—and he has never stopped.
Professor Kevin Bubriski came to Nepal at the age of 20 as a Peace Corps volunteer and stayed for five years, working in remote regions of the country. The experience left an indelible impression. “I love Nepali food, going to Swayambhu, walking through the old cities of Kathmandu,” he said. “My most-formative years were spent there, so it’s very much a part of who I am.”
Nepal has also been a big source of inspiration for his work as a photographer. Earlier collections including Portrait of Nepal, consisting of images taken in the 1990s, include panoramic views of the natural and built landscape. “Perhaps the most extraordinary photos, however, are the seemingly simple portraits,” writes Toby Alice Volkman, Program Officer of the Education, Media, Arts and Culture Program of The Ford Foundation. A gallery of images from his most recent book Nepal: 1975-2011 was recently featured in the New York Times “Lens” blog.
When he awoke to a flurry of emails about the earthquake this spring, he immediately took to Facebook. To his relief, he saw messages from friends in Kathmandu indicating they were safe. But concerns remain about how friends and acquaintances in the more rural regions of the country fared. Kevin will be back in Nepal this summer to lend a hand in humanitarian efforts.
Green Mountain College