A photo exhibition titled ‘Stories of Gatlang Women’ featuring 16 photographs by photojournalist Keshab Raj Thokar opened on Monday in Kathmandu.

The exhibition is being held at Umoja Cafe in New Baneshwar.

The photographs document the daily lives and struggles of women from Gatlang, a village in ward 3 of Aamachhodingmo Rural Municipality. The village, with around 600 households, is inhabited mainly by the Tamang and Dalit communities, where agriculture, livestock rearing and tourism form the main sources of livelihood.

Organised by Explore Nepal Network, the exhibition was inaugurated by Nyanjom Tamang, a resident of Gatalang who has been working in Kathmandu for the past five years. She was joined by Lhakpa Chhomo Tamang at the opening ceremony, both of whom became emotional while viewing the photographs.

Chair of Aamachhodingmo Rural Municipality, Buchung Tamang, said the exhibition helps promote Gatlang’s tourism potential and called for more stories from rural communities to be brought into public view.

Cultural expert Amrit Yonjan Tamang said the photographs made him feel as if he had travelled to Gatlang, sharing his experience of visiting the village.

Senior photojournalist Chandra Shekhar Karki said Thoker’s work reflects a strong effort in documenting the lives of rural women and thanked him for presenting their experiences through visual storytelling.

Organisers said the exhibition aims to build a creative bridge between Gatlang and Kathmandu through the works of a dedicated photojournalist.

Thoker, originally from Melung Rural Municipality-4 in Dolakha, has been active in photojournalism for nearly two decades. He began his career at Nepal Samacharpatra and later worked for Nagarik daily for 13 years. He also served as photo editor at Ayo Mail for about a year and is currently working as an independent photojournalist.

He has published a photo book titled Life in Pandemic, documenting the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. He said his work continues to focus on amplifying the voices of the voiceless through visual storytelling.

The exhibition will run until Wednesday.