Live from Kathmandu, a photo from Bagmati, Central

Photographer's Note

The unrest in eastern and central Terai is worsening by the day as two more protesters died in Malangwa, Sarlahi, some 400 km southeast of the capital city. Police opened fire when hundreds of protesters defied curfew orders and marched towards the District Administration Office. Police said 20 demonstrators were injured in the firing, four of them seriously.

Situation is calm in Kathmandu, although public meetings from various political organizations start to be held in the city asking for Home Minister resignation over the killing. Here in Durbar Square, a meeting held by the Maoist Party.

Transportation to and from eastern and southern districts has been badly affected due to shortage of petroleum products and blockages put by the protesting groups. Supply of petroleum products from India has been obstructed due to the Terai unrest, resulting in fuel crisis across the nation. In order to battle the deepening crisis in the Kathmandu valley, the government has decided to fix a quota system on the distribution of petrol. It has been decided to slap the quota on petrol supply as two litres for motorcycles and five litres for cars, at one time from a pump.

At this moment thousands and thousands of cars and motorcycles are queuing at the few gas stations around Kathmandu that have not already gone dry.

Paolo, delkoo, sabyasachi1212, stego, ciec, Wanda1, Cretense, Budapestman, devimeuxbe, Dragonheart, sanalytis, zips, cunejo200, atus, AiresSantos, magiqa heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

tcht (7565) 2007-02-05 11:42

Hi Vincent
Good reportage from Kathmandu...hope the situation would improve soon. Also excellent shot here, very good mix of people and architecture...and it's striking to see those red flags waved in the public, especially nowadays.
Best wishes,
CheukHin

delkoo (68) 2007-02-05 11:49

bonjour vincent
on a les informations en direct, les problemes du Nepal on du mal de se régler, cela dure depuis trop longtemps,en aout c'etait le probleme inverse,l'essence avait tellement augmentée que les autmobilistes on fait la greve et on bloqués l'economie du pays, deux jours après le carburant a retrouvé un prix normal, le gouvernement etait revenu sur sa decision.

didier

Paolo (41258) 2007-02-05 11:58

Hi Vincent excellent reportage from that city on the top of the world!
excellent quality and colours for that crowded image!
thanks, ciao

ben4321 (9875) 2007-02-05 12:37

Combined with your excellent note, this is a very high class piece of photojournalism.
Even without a note, this photograph tells an interesting story. This scene would have been unthinkable even a year or two ago; the Maoists in the heart of Kathmandu. It seems a lot is changing in Nepal at the moment.
The shot is well taken; I like the use of the sea of heads at the bottom of the frame. They show how busy and well attended the meeting is, and your choice of viewpoint ensured that none of the speakers or delegation were obscured.
On a technical note, the burn-out in the sky is a little unfortunate. An ND grad would have worked well and allowed the dark grey sky looming overhead to be recorded correctly.
The other qualities of the image more than make up for this minor glitch, however.
Good work.

Cheers,
Ben

jojo31 (1601) 2007-02-05 12:38

Hello
excellent reportage sur le Népal
beaux détails
bravo

jojo

sabyasachi1212 (19779) 2007-02-05 14:42

Hi Vincent,
Wonderful reportage shot, a very different take of the normal Durbar Square we are so used to seeing. Its unfortunate that violence is once again erupting in this beautiful Himalayan country just when peace seemed to be returning.
With Greetings from India
Sabyasachi

stego (24132) 2007-02-05 19:17

Namaste Vincent,
Great journalistic piece, both for the photo and the text!
You didn't leave your talent for great compo's behind even for this documentary. The image is very vivid, with all that people, the architecture and specially the red flags.
Amicalement, José.

Wanda1 (15142) 2007-02-06 22:46

Hi Vincent,
A great shot documenting the happenings in Kathmandu. Well photographed, nicely balanced with the people on the top, botttom and sides. A good note describing the turbulent events.
Regards
Wanda

Cretense (68709) 2007-02-07 6:16

Hi Vincent!

Great documentary and reportage photo! Besides that, it's a brilliantly composed picture with wonderful colours. Very informative note, too! Congratulations!

Hercules

Budapestman (82620) 2007-02-07 6:23

Hi Vincent,
This is a suggestive and spectacular photo. Details are talkative and interesting. Impressive POV and superb quality. Excellent note. Thank you for sharing. Nice days
George

coco (30439) 2007-02-07 11:44

Hi Vincent.

Well, TE is not only nice landscape (then would be a non useful place in the net).
Interesting work.
Sure, not the best photo that we can find in TE, but, sure, plenty of story.

Regards.

devimeuxbe (58557) 2007-02-08 7:47

Bonjour VIncent
Une manifestation qui semble pacifiste. Il semblerait que les choses soient en voie de pacification dans ce pays qui n'avait pas besoin d'une guerre civile (d'ailleurs personne n'en a besoin) BElle image haute en coleurs.
Au fait, sais tu ce que le petit boudha népalais est devenu ?
Amicalement
Bertrand

Dragonheart (8434) 2007-02-09 13:32

Hello Vincent,
Happy to know that you are in Nepal, amazing country with great culture and tradition. Thanks for this informative post.
Wish you best of luck!
Best wishes
Vivek

sanalytis (1634) 2007-02-10 2:18

Hi Vincent,

Thank you for your image and note regarding the ongoing political struggle in Nepal. We don't hear very much about Nepal in the western media...at least in North American media.
I remember some political turmoil when I visited 7 years ago but sadly things have gotten out of hand since then.

Spiros

zips (1958) 2007-02-11 2:47

Good photojournalistic shot. I would have liked to see this one composed so that the top of the building was at the very top of the frame......so that more people in the forground were visible.....but you may have that shot as well.

Great Job.
Aloha, JB

PixelTerror (0) 2007-02-12 8:00

Salut Camarade,
C'est tout frais ca, et effectivement a voir la scene on devine qu'il y a une certaine effervescence, qu'on aime la defunte URSS ou pas il faut bien reconnaitre que leur drapeau avait de la gueule pour les photographes, belle prise de photojournalisme. Tu fais quoi la dedans, tu es reporter ou tu t'es trouve piege ?
Bonne journee,
Jean-Yves

cunejo200 (7281) 2007-02-12 10:34

Hi Vincent,
A wonderful photojournalistic image. And I have to read your well written Note to understand exactly the unrest. Colors are vividly pleasant and DOF is good. Enjoy your travel and looking forward to more postings of Nepal. Greetings! Danilo

atus (15878) 2007-02-12 17:08

Hello Vincent,
great up-to-dateness report and documentation from that riotous country. As others said, a very good piece of photojournalism. I hope for you that the situation will not deteriorate. Tfs, my friend and I wish you a safety stay there!
Attila

sebinho342 (19329) 2007-02-13 4:18

Salut Vincent, alors comme ça t'es à katmandou ! tttssssss ;) Profite en bien, en tout cas je vois que les temps changent car tu peux nous faire partager des photos via internet en quasi temps réel, on n'arrete pas le progrès ... même à katmandou !
Merci pour cette photo de journalisme

Graal (103040) 2007-02-15 6:03

Bonjour Vincent,
amazing and interesting view, fine reportage. Good composition and POV. Good note also. Well done photo.
Gr., Aleksander

Stepan (27210) 2007-02-16 13:34

Quelle surprise de te lire du Népal, quel plaisir !!
Le traotement est très journalistique et cela fonctionne très bien. On dirait un article de journal avec sa photo. Très réussi, et même original sur TE (une piste à creuser ?).
Très bon voyage.
Stéphane

albertopiubello (2623) 2007-02-21 17:14

Bonsoir Vincent,
je vois que ton réportage du Nepal commence avec une photo hyper-intèressante. Un document de grand valeur. Je me demande le niveau de risque encouru pour prendre cette image... Ici, par exemple ça serait une très mauvaise idée de prendre une photo d'un tel ressemblement.
Note très intèressante et fraiche!
Alberto

AiresSantos (56155) 2007-02-22 5:19

Hi Vincent,
Very interesting shot, excellent reportage from that city at Nepal. Very good colours and light. Very good informative note.
TFS and greetings
Aires

Angshu (56760) 2007-02-22 7:12

Hello Vincent
You were in Nepal! No wonder no posts from you from quite some time. I'm also travelling now, presently in Chennai. This is a good documentary or journalistic shot, with the Durbar square certainly looking different with the crowd. A well written note too
Regards
Angshu

scalerman (26900) 2007-02-22 14:45

Vincent: and Shiva and Parvati look down on the crowd from above the high window. What a landmark this place is - the Kathmandap. Interesting juxtaposition of old and new here. A fine panorama of Dhubar Square. best, c

magiqa (1292) 2007-02-24 19:25

Fine to hear that the situation is calm now. I planned a trip to Nepal a couple of years ago, and to my disappointment the travel agency cancelled it. Colourful photo.