.Ben Rook

Kathmandu, for this Englishman, was a step into the unknown. The name was familiar enough. TV travel programmes had told me tales of Gurkha bravery and their unique role in the British Army. But without any real-life reference points, it felt like a mythical place too far away to contemplate. That was until I found photography. The Himalayan light and welcoming souls have made Nepal something of a Mecca, and I was soon planning a pilgrimage. Reading reports from those who had gone before, one word consistently cropped up - chaos! It added to the photographic appeal. But were my fellow Westerners simply experiencing culture shock? Or was this a reality shared by the locals? It got me thinking about an old phrase, attributed to the American cartoonist Charles Addams. "What´s normal for the spider is chaos for the fly".

At first, the preconception seemed well-founded. The Nepali way of life felt strange and fascinating. The roads were busy. Where I expected traffic lights, there were traffic cops blowing whistles and waving white gloves. On construction sites, women were doing the heavy lifting. The recalibration of my expectations continued. Things that trigger moral outrage where I come from were commonplace. Swastikas adorn garden gates, and animals get sacrificed on the street, much to the appreciation of stray dogs who lick at the rivers of blood. 

As my four and a half months in Nepal went on, what seemed "chaotic" to my Western eye became "normal" as I understood its context. My social conditioning had given way to an empathy for people in an unfamiliar place. Reflecting on that old phrase, I realised normality is an illusion. No single version exists. Subjective experience is what matters most.

Nepal; Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur, Dhulikhel, Namobuddha (2024-5)

Solo exhibition (24 colour photographs) at Gallery Mcube, Patan, April 2025.