"Most of the people they push the button and they just wanna see the end result right away, you know, like instantly. And I teach them the patience, you know, you cannot have everything instantly, you have to work for it. It became for me as a way of life, to slow down the speed, this craziness, through a medium of analog photography, and from that point of view I find it very very rewarding and I love it, teaching that way."
Jagadish Upadhya
During my first trip in Nepal in February 2023 I had the pleasure and honor to meet Professor Jagadish Upadhya. From the beginning, and even before, of my trip in Nepal it was my intention to find analog photographers in Nepal. At first it seemed impossible, I went to every photographic shop and they would look at me a little bit confused when I would ask them about film photography or photographers, as if I was speaking of a prehistorical time long forgotten by now. Then, like it often happens, I randomly found a good lead that one day brought me at Jagadish Upadhya's house and his Film Foundry studio, a last stronghold for analog photography lovers. Jagadish warmly welcomed me, I was as curious of him as he was of me, and we exchanged a lot of interesting information about different subjects. Eventually a lot of habitués started passing by, apparently without any notice. I really loved the relaxed athmosphere. From Jagadish I heard his stories from when he used to live in different parts of the world, France, US, Australia. Apparently he was supposed to become an aviator but then realized he was more interested in art than aviation.
So, before leaving I proposed him to go for a photo session around Kathmandu where I would film him. He agreed and he choose Patan district where he was born and grew up. We had such a nice walk, I had visited the district before but with him it was something completely different. I saw many hidden places I had not seen before, and many stories about the neighborhood. It was a fantastic day and photo session that I humbly tried to document with this video. I hope you will enjoy it.
Go to check his film_foundry instagram page