Songs from hill and land (On-going)

Songs from Hill and Land is an ongoing project exploring working-class Nepali masculinity through a blend of archival research, portraiture, and collaborative image-making. Inspired by historical studio portraits of Nepali men — where poses often straddle pride, aspiration, and performance — the project invites individuals from marginalized caste and class backgrounds to imagine and construct alternative versions of themselves in front of the camera.

Rather than aiming for documentary realism, the work embraces performance and fantasy as a way to access deeper truths — not just about how these men live, but how they dream, desire, and wish to be seen. At its core, the project is an exploration of visibility, agency, and the complicated gaze of documentary photography.