living with HIV



i do apologise for the length of this, and i know i am not a poltician or someone of much importance, but i have a voice and i have something to say and i know that some people, if not many, do come on this blog to see my pictures, so i ask you to give me some of your time to read this. thank you



in support of the lives that have been taken by AIDS, but more importantly, for those who are still living with HIV.

we have been educated and made aware about these issues and lots more, but there are many who aren't as lucky. we do take things for granted, and i, myself, in the past, have felt that sex education and lessons on STI's were pointless and "i'm not stupid, duh" is something i am guilty of saying. i failed to comprehend that just because something isn't happening to me or around me, doesnt mean its not happening at all. almost 34 million people around the world are living with HIV and since 2007, 2 million have already died. these numbers are big enough that you never know who is going to be included in it.

it doesn't matter whether you are male or female, black or white, gay or straight, from a developed or a third world country, anyone can get HIV and there's a misconception that those who get it bring it upon themselves, which maybe true in some cases, but not on all ocassions. who are we to blame the 2 million children who were born with HIV? who are we to point fingers at the illiterate couple who didnt even know what a condom is or does, or even if they did, felt obliged to follow the man they believe as being closest to god?

there are many misconceptions about the condition/disease itself and also about those who live or/and die with it. no it doesnt spread by touching or hugging someone who has it. no, its not just gay men who get HIV. yes, you can still have a normal life expectancy if right treatment is provided, so no, you dont die soon even if it can't be cured. yes, it is a very serious issue not only in the UK, but everywhere in the world. yes, we can make a difference...

there are millions who have died and many who are fighting to live with this disease that has no cure. just because it cant be cured, it shouldnt stop us from taking initiatives to prevent it in the first place so that someone else doesn't have to go through the same things that they go through everyday.
it must take a lot of courage to go on each day knowing that your body is not strong enough to fight even a cold virus or flu. the prejudice from the society and negative attitudes towards them really don't help much either! the disease itself hasn't got a cure, but this disease of prejudice has, and discrimination against anyone should not exist in any form. just because someone has HIV doesnt make them any less of a human than someone who hasn't got it. there isn't a written rule or a book that tells you so, so why do we do it? because everyone else does it? or because you think its okay to make fun out of it? whatever the reason there is, or whatever reason there isn't, it needs to end and we can all do something to make it happen.

sometimes ignorance is bliss, but is it really? when lives are being lost, and when there's so much that can be done to save those lives, ignorance is not bliss. so find out more information by going on websites such as ( http://www.worldaidsday.org/ http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/HIV/Pages/Introduction.aspx ) please share what you know, talk to your friends, talk to your family, your siblings and relatives. knowledge is only worth anything if shared. tell them its okay to hug a person with HIV. tell them and yourself, that they are the same as you, or anyone of us. wear a red ribbon. the money collected from those go towards supporting the treatment and the research in the cure of HIV so anything you can give will matter, regardless of how much it is. if there's a programme or an event happening in your school/college/local community, go and participate. show your support. you may think it doesn't really make any concrete difference, but it does! if a person with HIV sees that they have so much support from other people, they may not feel like they have to hide the fact that they have HIV to avoid facing discrimination whether at work or from society in general. having them see so many people taking part in raising awareness, telling others what they didn't know before, or just reinforcing what they did know, doing something to help them, by donating money or just by being there... yes it does make a difference, not only to them, as victims, but also to those who might be one as well, but because you've done something about it, they would then be less likely to get it.

SO PLEASE DO SOMETHING! (click on the link for ways you can help!)

thank you for reading, i'm sorry i havent uploaded any pictures on this blog in a long time. i promise i havent stopped taking pictures. its just that other things have taken more priority and i am not able to spend as much time editing the pictures that i have taken in the past few weeks and even months! i'll try to not disappear for longer.

gyan

the winter sun (vintage basement 2 of 5)





the beautiful lace shirt from vintage basement is only £10
the beautiful model is tammy wooldridge
the beautiful hair+makeup artist is my dear friend subechhya gurung whose hands are magical and is the kindest and nicest person you'll meet :)

what part of forever? (vintage basement 1 of 5)




 

so i did a collaboration with vintage basement  last month where i borrowed some clothes from the shop and used them in my pictures. the shop's owner thinley shakya was so kind and awesome for letting me do so, and i am ever so grateful for that. i would go on a rant about how amazing the shop is but i'll let the pictures do the talking.


(here, the green wax coat is from the shop, everything else is mine :P)
4 more posts to follow on vintage basement (YES)

you'll never be what is in your heart




photo/ pp/ styling: me
models: nawal gurung and nischal gurung

(lots of new pictures soon! dont say i didnt warn you :P)

let the sun shine (my first client shoot!)





 
 
 
pictures from my very first client shoot! she'd never done a photoshoot before, so she said she was nervous (and me? even though, i had been paid before for taking pictures in a few events, this was my first proper photoshoot for a client, so i was completely freaking out... what if i do really bad? what if she doesnt like the pictures?!) my mind was loud with apprehension but it all went away when we met. she was so nice and so friendly, i remember thinking "phew, im so glad there havent been any 'awkward' moments yet" (yes i have quite a talent for being awkwardly weird with people i dont know). we got along so well and it shows. i wanted to capture her personality in the pictures and how warmth radiated around her. we went into the fountain and splashed water and jumped around like we were kids. we went to the harbourside and i made her pretend that she was in titanic (oh no i didnt!) we part walked, part danced around the streets and skipped steps on park benches and re-enacted egyptian symbols on a wall (with people watching) and oh how much i loved being part of it all. we took the pictures for 4 hours. she chose what pictures she wanted me to edit, and i was only meant to edit 10, but they were too tempting for me not to edit some more, so i ended up editing 18 in total. for the shoot+final edited pictures, i only charged her £15 because it was my first time and she had also kindly offered to pay for my train fare. 
 
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as a 18 year old who hasnt had a proper job yet, and having been rejected so many times (doing this, as the only way of 'earning' some sort of money, no matter how much it is) i was quite proud of myself. i was on the train back, and i was so tired, and my hands were aching from taking pictures the whole day, but i loved it. i missed the people and the place, but i came back with a sense of achievement, and proved to myself that i'm not worthless and that was worth the hard work.
i've had two other people approach me for a paid shoot till now and i cant wait to take their pictures as well. i am charging the same amount for them, but it will definitely increase for other future bookings (if i miraculously get any).
although i'm only just starting this whole thing, and i really did enjoy my first shoot, after having spent 6 hours just editing the pictures, (and shooting for 3 hours more than i was supposed to) i decided £15 really was too low a price. sure, i could just use actions or batch edit the pictures or just not edit them as extensively, but i wouldnt, and i won't because for every set of pictures on this blog, i have never spent less than 5 hours (many have taken me days) in editing them and i feel like i should treat the pictures i get paid to shoot in the same way as i do for my personal works. post processing is very important to me. i have figured the only way i can compensate the same quality of work, is by increasing the charge, which only seems fair to me.

i am now charging £30, in which i will spend 1 and half hour taking your pictures. ALL images from the shoot (which normally is 200+) will be available to VIEW online in a private photobucket album which will be set up personally for you, and a password will be given to access the pictures (bear in mind that they wil be resized so will be of very low quality online). you can then choose 10 pictues to be EDITED, and 50 original pictures. (the 50 original pictures will not be edited as stated. they will be sent in their full resolutions so they will be of high quality) all of the 10 final edited images, and 50 original images of your choice will be given to you in a cd.
 
TO BOOK A SHOOT, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT: gyangurungphotography@gmail.com 
 
ps: i am also available to do any events (gauley parties, birthday parties?), weddings, engagements, family portraits and children, couples shoot, retouching services, musician photography... anything under the big blue sky :)
(the rates for the events aren't fixed yet, so they will vary according to the number of hours and number of final pictures to be edited.)

(thank you for taking the time to read if you have done so. i always say more than what i intend to. i wont write much on the next few posts.)