Portrait of Nepal
Photographs by Kevin Bubriski
A collection of fine art black and white portraits of the Nepali people and landscapes. Each large format print is well reproduced with broad tonal qualities.
“In the nineteenth century, the likes of Samuel Bourne and John Thomson lugged heavy gear halfway around the world to photograph the people and sights of exotic Asia. In modern times, Bubriski’s motivations, methods, and results are virtually the same. Using a large view camera and black-and-white film, he poses the Nepalese with antique formality–always facing the lens directly–and, although greatly sympathetic, he evokes most clearly their exoticism. This backward-looking approach is the troubling aspect of what is in other respects a lovely book. Bubriski is obviously familiar with the country in which he has lived for many years, and he takes us beyond the Himalayan scenes stereotypical of Nepal to remote village life. His meticulous skill and very good eye yield a collection of rich, exquisite photographs, which he disposes into four sections corresponding to the main geographical divisions of Nepal. If they don’t tell us much about change in Nepal, they beautifully describe its ancient, perhaps eternal, aspects.” – Gretchen Garner, from Booklist
