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In April 2015 Nepal was struck by a catastrophic earthquake called the Gorkha earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people and injured nearly 22,000.
This tragedy shook the world including Bahrain-based photographer Jody Peck who had visited the South Asian country in September 2014 with a friend to enjoy its way of living, capture the scenery and learn more about the culture.
Heartbroken by the disaster, the 39-year-old British expat decided to display his colourful compositions to encourage people to visit the stunning Himalayan country to help it rebuild its economy.
During his journey, he shadowed a family-of-six living in Pachbaya, learning their way of life and seeing Nepal from their eyes.
The exhibition, entitled ‘Family in the Mountains’ features 21 photographs of Nepal. It has been organised by InTouch Gallery and placed on display at the InTouch Integrated Chiropractic and Rehabilitation Centre in Janabiya.
Jody, who lives in Saar, said: “It was such a great and humbling experience to see how the Nepalese live. I hope the viewer will appreciate the chance to see another way of life in a different country and to appreciate what they have around them. I hope they enjoy the photographs and will one day visit Nepal too.”
Jody and a friend were exploring the mountainous region when they came across a steep and unstable looking road that led them to Pachbaya.
“We were venturing around some mountain roads on bikes when we came across a steep pathway,” he explained. “It was hot and we both needed a drink, so we followed the pathway up to see if we could find any life and perhaps some water. We passed a few small dwellings and eventually came across a small sleepy village.
“We continued up the path until the tree line thinned and when we reached the pinnacle we met Ram and Tara. The couple lived there with their children and elders. From that moment on, it was an easy decision to stay.”
Jody fell in love with the landscape and the peaceful surroundings. He was invited to chronicle their daily routines from the grandmother feeding the chickens to the parents getting their children ready for school and unlocking a cabinet to sell sweets and crisps to passers-by.
He watched as the grandfather diligently dressed up in his smart but aged suit every morning to walk down the hill to meet up with elderly friends.
While most of the pictures in Jody’s exhibition focus on the family, their routines and Nepal’s natural surroundings such as architecture and monkeys at the monkey temple, some abject images are also included: “My favourite photograph would be of the chair with the coffee cup. I remember clearly how uncomfortable it was so I will never forget it,” he said.
Jody has also added seven other experimental works of art to his exhibition. He said: “The other set of images are a mix of long exposure light painting and long exposure with studio lighting – essentially mixing two types of photography together.”
Jody has been passionate about photography from a young age and was always using his dad’s camera to take photographs.
“I didn’t really have any idea on what I was doing but the composition in the pictures seemed to be pretty good, looking back,” he added. “My brother handed down his Fuji Bridge camera to me which I used to learn how to shoot manually.
“I started using it for architectural photography when I was working in real estate and from then on, moved up through the ranks and invested in Canon DSLRs to produce professional grade images.”
Jody and his family moved to the kingdom in 1991 and he studied at St Christopher’s School. After that, he moved around the Middle East, living in Oman and Dubai, and even returned to the UK where he worked as a dog handler with a K9 unit.
Eventually he found his way back to Bahrain, starting work in the family business, a global logistics company, before the lure of the lens took hold.
Jody is also working with videography as a side project, creating videos for YouTube of various local musicians performing in his studio.
“I have had the pleasure of photographing most of the local talent here in Bahrain at one point or another and feel strongly about supporting the local music scene,” Jody added.
He is hoping to return to Nepal to focus on the monkey temple, to compare before and after photographs, as it was damaged by the earthquake.
In the meantime, his exhibition work is being snapped up for BD35 to BD80 a time. The images will be displayed until the end of August.
For details, contact senior curator Frances Stafford by email fstafford77@gmail.com or call or WhatsApp 38327191.
