On April 25, 2015, a devastating earthquake struck Nepal. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters to hit Nepal in 100 years, killing thousands of people, injuring thousands more and leaving tens of thousands people homeless and displaced.
These images depict the situation images 6 months after the earthquake and again at 2 years after the event. In Kathmandu, Nepal, at 6 months after earthquake, tens of thousands of people were still living in temporary shelters and tent areas.
Rebuilding efforts after the earthquake were in a chaotic standstill with a brand new Nepalese government and constitution. The situation was compounded by a fuel crisis. India, unhappy with the new Nepalese constitution, imposed an unofficial blockade on its borders. Gasoline, jet fuel, cooking fuel dwindled down to nothing. Medicines became are very limited. Food was unable to be distributed because of no gasoline. Electricity became even more limited. Common people were suffering; the poor were suffering even more. At two years after the earthquake, many areas, especially those out of international communities’ radar, still had not received any help in rebuilding and the people in these communities very little access to relief. The Nepalese government seems to be politically paralyzed to distribute the millions of foreign aid dollars that is still sitting in government coffers to assist in re-establishing these earthquake devastated communities. The humanitarian and economic crisis caused by the earthquake has resulted in more vulnerable women and children being preyed upon by human traffickers, malnutrition and illnesses in the poor. But for the resilient Nepalese people, life just goes on.
About Larry Louie
Dr. Larry Louie is an optometrist in Canada and also a travel and documentary photographer who has managed to combined his interests to promote the work of different charities around the world. In his optometry clinic, he works to enhance the vision of people from all walks of life in the urban core of a North American city. On his travels, he is a humanitarian documentary photographer, exploring the lives of remote indigenous people, and documenting social issues around the world. As an optometrist, Larry adjusts people’s visual perception. As a photographer, he seeks to adjust people’s view of the world. Either way, he is interested in things that exist outside the regular field of vision.
Over the last couple of years, Dr. Louie has used his photography as a platform to high light the work of different charities around the world, along with other social issues and challenges people are encountering in a world facing rapid urbanization and globalization. He wants to engage people in inspiring stories of perseverance and strength, not only of those who have found themselves caught in such a plight, but also amazing individuals and organizations that are lending a helping hand. He hopes his photographs will be able to tell the stories and make a difference, and to reveal light that is found in the darkest of places.
Larry’s award winning photographs have appeared in the Asian Photography Magazine, Digital Camera Magazine, British Journal of Photography, B&W Magazine, National Geographic and National Geographic Traveler Magazine. His work have also been exhibited around the world; from the Royal Geographical Society of London, UK to the Circle of Fine Art in Madrid, Spain, to the Center of Photography in Charleston, South Carolina to the Pendulum Gallery in Vancouver, Canada to the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, Canada. [Official Website]
