The Facebook page “Vintage Nepal ~ Rare Old Pictures, Videos and Arts of Nepal” was launched on November 14, 2011 by Humagain, 24, and his friend Ranjit Silwal, 26, who is now an entrepreneur in Punjab, India.[break]
Humagain recently completed his Masters in Conflict, Peace and Development Studies from Tribhuvan University.
Vintage Nepal is a digital and social platform for historical and anthropological materials representing the variety of ethnology, linguistics, archaeology, culture, traditions and rituals of Nepal. The page is aptly subtitled “Visual Chronicles of Nepal.”
Photo:Dr Wolf Donner
The idea of the page was born when both Humagain and Silwal wanted to share their collection of around 3,000 old photos, and as the page grew popular on Facebook, they started receiving messages of appreciation and photo contributions from both Nepalis and foreigners.
The page has around 6,000 pictures and 20,554 likes as of now.
“Foreigners who visited Nepal in the 70s and 80s have shared their photos with us. Sometimes, when we don’t know the exact date of the photo taken, we research the time and put informative captions to represent the decades through the pictures,” informs Humagain.
The duo use pictures from their own collection, photo contributions they receive and books and museums abroad and go into extensive research for captions.
Photo: Dr Wolf Donner
Many Internet-savvy youths of today who have been born and brought up in the city have little or no visual knowledge of how Nepal used to be, how New Road looked back then, or how their own vicinity was like, say, two decades ago.
With “Vintage Nepal,” those who have seen it all before can reminisce and others can finally see the images they had been imagining in their heads. What began as a hobby of two young men is now a visual treat for thousands of eyes.
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