The Taste of Coffee

The Taste of Coffee is an experience of life lived with coffee in the farm as witnessed by three artists who set out to capture the richness of home-grown coffee beans on their canvas, microphone and camera respectively. Three artists, Clara Puddu, Eloïse Calatayud and Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka, with diverse skills and passion in their respective fields of art have highlighted the uniqueness of this rich and aromatic crop through their paintings, sound design and photography through this exhibition.

However, The Taste of Coffee isn't just about coffee, it is about the people involved in the sowing and reaping of the crop. The exhibition tries to draw attention to the lives of people involved in coffee farming though the chores of Surya Prasad Adhikari and his wife Saraswoti Adhikari, who run a permaculture coffee farm in Lekhnath -10, Begnas of Kaski district, Nepal. The exhibition also highlights the couple's perception and contribution to conservation and improvements of local varieties of cultivation, organic farming and sustainable uses of local biological resources.

The Taste of Coffee is up in painting, sound and photography exhibition at Nepal Art Council Gallery, Babarmahal, Kathmandu 19th through 27th February 2011. The exhibition will be inaugurated by veteran photographer Mr. Hari Bangsha Kirant.

The exhibition has been organised by NEPALPHOTOGRAPHY.org with support from Galleria CUC and Momomagic.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

Those eyes ….

Me and my friend went for a photo shoot at a brick factory at Bade gawn, Lalitpur to do a story about human right, I did not find anything related to what I was looking for but my friend did find something. But I did some random photography around and found this boy looking at me and I feel that his eyes are trying to tell something to me but still I cannot figure out what he wants to say?

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

Hunt for a good coffee ….

As a coffee lover, I always want to know from where the coffee comes from that I am drinking each and every day and last few days I got to know a lot about the coffee and all the process that goes through before coming into my cup. Coffee grown in some part of Nepal goes to all around the world and it is the best coffee all around the world too.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

Coffee Killer ....

Some says home is where your heart is and some says home is where your art is but I think home is where everything is; love, care and what you need is. In this photograph is a regular coffee, but the coffee that I drink in my home have something special that I never find in any coffee shop or other place that offer me coffee.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Nepal

Today was the launch of the wall Calendar of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Nepal 2011 along with UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Nepal photography exhibition at Galleria CUC.

The calendar has been published by Chomolungma UNESCO Centre and the photographs have been curated by Galleria CUC. The photographers featured in the calendar are Vibek Raj Maurya, Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka, Md. Fadil, Prazwol Sijapati, Swapnil Acharya, Prajwal Bhattarai, Om Yadav, Sumeet Shakya, Shikhar Bhattarai, Sagar Chitrakar, Kushal Goyal and Nikhil Gurung.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

Taking it hard just like you knew I do ....

Cried all night 'til there was nothin' more
What use am I as a heap on the floor?
Heaving devotion but it's just no good
taking it hard just like you knew I would.

Taking it hard just like you knew I do.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

Coca Cola Camera ….

Camera comes in all shape and size and one of them is this Coca Cola Camera, I will try to put some photographs taken by this Coca Cola Camera in near future.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

Yatra – The Journey

Yatra – The Journey started from today, will be doing some travelling + some travel based job in and around.

Wanna live life to the fullest.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

What the f*ck?

Today, I was at a waiting room with a friend and flipping some old magazine that was on the room, and I just got my eyes on one of the photograph in one of the magazine in the article about the Tihar festival. And I told my friend that it looks like mine but it is cropped and to make sure that it is my photograph I took that photograph from the magazine. And later as I did check with my original photograph it was the match.

What can I say?

“F*ck!”

This is not the first time something happen with my photographs, few months back one of the web magazine used my photograph and as I was browsing their web site I found out about that but I was not sure that it was my photograph and I did comment on that page “it looks like my photograph” but for my surprise next day I receive email from editor of that web magazine as saying that they do not use anything without any permission and they respect copyright things with a attachment of the original photograph of size 362x300 dimensions as saying that this kind of normal photographs can be taken anywhere and it was not yours. I respect their view and did not reply them anymore, because I know something called PhotoShop. I am doing photography since I was 7 and digital photography from 2005, so I can say what is in photographs and what is not?

I am not saying that you cannot able to use my photographs but my point is that if you do than please do give name credit at least if you cannot able to pay than.

I think this kind of stuff happens to all the amateur photographers, so far as I know one of my friends also was in same situation sometime back, but I did not understand why this kind of stuff happens with a big media house? Or a big name in the game?

This kind of stuff did not discourage me, I am just making my point and hope you get in a right track or get ready to listen a word f*ck f*ck f*ck a loud.

Peace.

This photo at my blog and in flickr.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

This Dashian was ….

This Dashian was good and bad for me, good on side because I have and did wonderful thing and bad in side as lost 50K, did not took photographs as many as I thought I will but never the less have a wonderful experience, I think that’s matter a lot.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

I still believe in a beautiful morning ....

I still believe in a beautiful morning.
And a sun shall not declare a sunset, and leave a life full of joy.

"I will dream without Borders".
Someday all the impossible dreams will be achieved.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

That Paradise is ....

All our things are trivial stuff
All these rusted doors
All this hard love
All these impossible dreams
And all the outstanding predestination . . . .
All this life is used!

If only we realize,

That Paradise is the only home for the truth things !

First day of a Dashain.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

The Kite Runner

The nice thing about the start of Dashain is that it also coincided with the kite season. Now-a-days flying a kite in Kathmandu is not as common as it used to be, this splendid sport used to be the favorite pasttime of kids and adults alike in the 70s. One could see hundreds of kites on Kathmandu’s sky gliding elegantly or fighting a fierce battle with one another and pulling all the tricks it could to bring someone else down. I suppose the sport fell victim to growing popularity of technology-driven entertainment and other games of the late 80s and 90s. Kite flying, marbles (guccha), tash (cards), and other sports like tel kasa (game that involves giving a chase), aas paas (hide and seek) began to disappear slowly and if you ask young kids these days if they played any such games I bet with the exception of kite flying they would not have a clue how these games are played.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

Time is slow for those who ....

Time is slow for those who wait.
Fast for those who fear.
Long for those who grieve.
And eternal for those who love!

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

Duplicity

Poster of a short experimental film Duplicity.

Lately, I have been busy with some short film projects.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

August 15th- Pentaxium: World Pentax Day

Today was World Pentax Day, I did use Pentax camera NOT for the sake of the World Pentax Day but for the love of photography. In Nepal many of my friends always run after the big brand of camera rather than getting into the deep of photography. Many new wanna be photographers in Nepal, every time they browse web sites of famous photographers they first get into the equipment page to see what they use, they do not want to see how they work hard enough to be on that place today.

There is a silent war between the Nikon and the Canon camera user in my friends circle, but I am not into the war nor between the war. I enjoy shooting with what ever I have in my hand and I guess that the best camera in the world is that what you have in your hand. I have used Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Leica, Sony, Holga, Lomo, Minolta, Fujifilm, Samsung, Panasonic, Hasselblad, Kodak, Yashica, Zenith and some homemade cameras to name a few. There are many more brand of cameras that I have not used, if I only run after the brand camera I have no time for photography. So I suggest everyone mostly for the new and wanna be photographer to focus on photography not into camera. Always think positive and what ever you have in your hand is the best camera in the world.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

my heart is but a child ....

the sight of her binds me
and I can't look away
this silky strand
I can't tear away

It's been years since
I've turned grey
yet the color of youth
refuses to fade away

Oh! and now my heart
beats faster
my face is losing its color
I fear those lonely nights
my heart is but a child

my heart is but a child
Innocent but naive
my heart is but a child

the sight of her binds me
and I can't look away
this silky strand
I can't tear away

It's been years since
I've turned grey
yet the color of youth
refuses to fade away

who knew I'd given shelter
to such a roguish heart
forever I imagined it would be
as virtuous as me

Oh! and it pulls at me
It makes such a racket
it gives undue importance
to trivial things
nothing's more devious
than the heart

someone stop me
someone hold me
or else at this age
I will be deceived
and now I fear I'll
fall in love

my heart is but a child

my heart is but a child
Innocent but naive
my heart is but a child.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

That’s Life!!!!

When I got enough confidence,
The stage was gone.

When I was sure of losing,
I won.

When I needed people the most,
They left me.

When I learn to dry my tears,
I found a shoulder to cry on.

When I mastered the skill of hating,
Somebody started loving me.

I think .... That’s Life!!!!

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

Walking away in early morning rain ....

There are things . ..

That we do not want to happen . ..

but have to accept,

Things we do not want to know . ...

but have to learn !

and people we can not live without but we have to let it go . . . .

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

मुसुक्क हाँस ल! Hi! Girls Do You Love Me?

Hi! Girls Do You Love Me?

Written on a truck door at somewhere around at national highway. Look like this trucker is a Casanova.

Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka