October 31: Dr Shahidul Alam has been honored with the Photo Kathmandu 2018 Award of Excellence by Photo Kathmandu recently for his contributions towards the development of photography and journalism.

He is a prominent Bangladeshi photographer, writer, curator, educator and activist. He is the founder of Drik Picture Library, Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, Chobi Mela International Festival of Photography and Majority World, all groundbreaking Bangladeshi institutions.

The decision to confer this year’s Photo Kathmandu Award of Excellence to Dr Shahidul Alam was unanimously reached among the Photo Kathmandu 2018 Awards organising committee that included Bikas Rauniar (senior nepali photojournalist), Bikas Karki, (president of Photojournalist Club Nepal and photo editor of Annapurna Post) and Sagar Shrestha (president of National Forum of Photojournalists).

Photo Kathmandu is an international photography festival organized by photo.circle. The festival presents exhibitions, workshops, and a diverse range of public programmes to Kathmandu audiences and international visitors once every two years.

The festival is organized by photo.circle in collaboration with Sikhshya Foundation which is sponsored by various organizations including National Geography Television, Nepal Tourism Board among others.

The event which was inaugurated on October 12 will conclude on November 16. Photos from various renowned photographers from Nepal and abroad are being exhibited in the photo festival.

The organizers had also hosted an interaction program on October 25 where individuals had interacted with Prabal Gurung, iconic American-Nepalese fashion designer and founder of Sikhshya Nepal in Mangal Bazar.