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Here Are the Winners of Our Kids of Kathmandu Photo Contest

By Ellyn Kail on October 24, 2016

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Temper Tantrum, Bangkok © Adam Birkan. Bid on this print here.

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Yeonsoo © Hye-Ryoung Min. Bid on this print here.

After much deliberation and planning, Feature Shoot Editor-in-Chief Alison Zavos and Jami Saunders, Co-Founder and President of Kids of Kathmandu, have selected twelve winning photographs out of the hundreds submitted to be exhibited and auctioned as part of the Kids of Kathmandu gala on October 27th.

All proceeds from the photography contest and auction will go directly towards rebuilding 50 schools in the areas most devastated by last year’s earthquake. It’s a day Saunders remembers vividly; she was woken early in the morning on April 25th, 2015, fearing for the 49 kids living at the NYCDS orphanage. They were all safe, but in the aftermath of the disaster, nearly 5,000 schools were destroyed.

“It is a lot of loss to take in as a child,” Saunders says, “But Nepalis are notoriously resilient.” Kids of Kathmandu will have nine schools already built come November, and the 50 schools and will serve an estimated 10,000 children in the areas of Kavre, Sindupalchowk, Nuwakot, and Gurkha.

Photographers who participated in this contest helped furnish those first nine schools with desks, furniture, and school supplies. The building process has already given a sense of hope to the community, and children can be found curiously and excitedly awaiting the unveiling. “Anyone will be able to visit these schools, look at a school desk, and know that with your photo entry, you helped make this happen,” Saunders explains.

In judging this contest, Zavos and Saunders kept an open mind. The theme was based around the central idea of our new Instagram account @childhoodeveryday, and photographers were welcome to submit any images that captured the beauty and reality of growing up around the world.

“I’m drawn to the idea of hope, of dreams, of potential, of innocence, of honesty, of connection, of tenderness,” Saunders says of what she looked for most in the winning photographs.

The Kids of Kathmandu 2016 Gala will take place at Ramscale Studios, 463 West Side Highway at Bethune, West Village in New York on the evening of October 27th from 6 PM – 9 PM. Prints of all twelve images in this post are available for auction. Learn more about the event here, and be sure to reserve your tickets in advance. See all the auction items here.

The 12 winning photographers will have their images printed by the experts at Ken Allen Studios and will also receive a cashmere animal from Oja Moon and a Leather Presidio camera strap from ONA.

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