Enjoy Your Freedom Outside
I found my way of expression in photography. I want to tell stories of gender inequality.
I explore the social, cultural, familial, political, and psychological perspectives on gender inequality in Nepal. I am constantly questing for identity, position, equal property rights, and power in this part of the world.
I ask what men might feel if they were confined to the same boundaries as women. For example, I deal with the trauma I face in everyday life because of menstruation which is a natural process, considered impure because of deeply rooted traditions.
Photography is a language that engages with my innermost fears, vulnerabilities, and triumphs. It is life. It is a way to open doors and to build relationships with people, places, and myself.
These images are from several bodies of work over five years. They are from Kathmandu and western and southern Nepal. My ongoing works, Our Songs from the Forest and Stay Home, Sisters are an exploration of menstrual taboos. Boundless delves into how men would feel if they were confined within sociocultural, familial, or political boundaries.
As a visual storyteller, making work is a process to ask questions: ‘How long must we go through this? How long must we fight?’
I am working on a portrait series entitled I which is the story of women in pursuit of their identity. I am collaborating with women over 30-years-of-age who are mothers, teachers, artists, writers and entrepreneurs.
I prefer to shoot in the late afternoon and morning when the light makes some magic. I am inspired by Newsha Tavakolian, Antoine D’agata, Sohrab Hura and Katrin Keonning. Also a very important name is Nan Goldin, who I dream to meet in person.
I am a fellow of the 2020 Magnum Foundation Photography and Social Justice program. I turned the camera on myself to capture the menstrual taboos that I experienced in Kathmandu. We are told that while we may enjoy our freedoms outside, we must follow rules and restrictions inside the home.
Uma Bista is an alumnus of Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Angkor photo, Cambodia. Her work has been published by ‘The New York Times’, ‘NPR’, ‘The Guardian,’ ‘Le Monde,’ WHO and UN Women among others.
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