Schooling in the Mountains, a photo from Gandaki, West

Photographer's Note

For children living in isolated Nepalese mountain villages, access to education is still a problem. While trekking through the mountains in the early mornings, one comes across mothers walking their young ones, clad in red or blue uniforms, heading for school. The teenagers walk by themselves, but as we come across them in a path of stone steps in the midst of nowhere, you can imagine how far they have to walk, to get to school.

According to a local, the convention is to send the sons to school while the daughters are made to attend to domestic chores like collecting fodder and looking after the young ones. Even if the girls are sent to school, they barely reach the age of 15, afterwhich they are considered ripe for marriage. In their own homes they are considered 'strangers' who must one day attend to the care of another's home when they are married off, hence, they are sent away like ‘buffalos' and are not allowed to do anything except to collect fodder and other daily chores.

jjcordier, Janusz1974, Cricri, holmertz, adores, fotka has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

jadesgran (3259) 2013-03-09 22:48

Hello May
What a sad little story.I really feel for these youngsters.When I think of my young grandchildren being pampered and driven to school (almost in the eye`s view)I feel quite guilty and humble.
A well composed picture with the b/ground nicely out of focus, putting the emphases on the two figures.
Best Wishes
Gladys.

jjcordier (62280) 2013-03-09 23:08

May
Une très jolie photo composée de très belle façon et accompagnée d'une note très instructive.Belle utilisation de la profondeur de champ.
Amicalement
JJ

mirosu (5507) 2013-03-09 23:52

Hello May,
Excellent photo, interesting story. Not nice paerpectives for these small girls. Thank you for posting of this nice photo and the story.

SWEETFREEDOM (18381) 2013-03-09 23:57

Hi May,
beautiful daily life scene, interesting frame, good colors and light.
regards
Alessandro

carlo62 (12434) 2013-03-10 0:54

Ciao May
bella foto, ben composta ed inquadrata, i colori delle due bambine contrastano con tutto il resto e lo sfondo sfocato rende l'immagine ancor più piacevole.
Saluti
Carlo

Janusz1974 (2271) 2013-03-10 9:10

Hi May,
Very nice photo of these two girls schooling in the mountains .
The note is interesting, too.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful photographs!
Best regards
Janusz

Cricri (86295) 2013-03-10 10:59

Hi May
Une belle image et scéne de vie de ces enfants des montagnes, bon DOF, couleurs et note
Belle soirée
cricri

holmertz (26854) 2013-03-10 11:04

Hello May Jane,
This is a lovely photo with a nice composition and very good colours and contrasts. I like the look of the two small girls talking about some important matter, totally indifferent to the splendid view which they have seen every day of their lives. The sign showing the name and address of their school is a nice detail which has become an important part of the composition. I enjoy seeing that it was established in 2021. That should be the mid 1960's according to the Western calendar.
Regards,
Gert

abmdsudi (26199) 2013-03-10 22:01

Hi May
A well rendered image of these girls taking a much needed break after a long walk and lots more to go! A strong composition and tones of the tree trunk & sign forming a natural frame. This is a wonderful candid shot that says so much about life and conditions in these high Nepalese villages and children are always great subjects around the world, they amazingly manage to look quite similar all the way across the continents. A great life and meaningful shot, such a natural pose and I like the way they are isolated from the soft blurry background - good use of dof. Great photo work, TFS
Kind regards

adores (28178) 2013-03-16 19:55

Hi May!
They really seem concentrated on their conversation! I like the photo with the two girls and the sign and also the blurred background. It's a different country and a different reality for sure!

fotka (2320) 2013-03-26 4:52

Hello May,
An excellent daily life photo with sad story attached. I was confused about the year when the school was established, but after reading "holmertz" critique my question was cleared.
The photo has good composition with great dof, colors, light and sharpness.
Best regards,
Zbigniew