In 2006, I traveled to Nepal on grant funds to explore and document various security demographics of communities that were directly impacted by the decade-long war that had just ended. I worked with a Kathmandu-based humanitarian organization and produced articles for their publication. I specifically wanted to document families who were impacted on both sides of the war. 

Esita graciously allowed me to spend time with her and share her story with the world. My fixers helped me conduct the interview and then left me to spent the day with Esita. As a documentary photographer, it is an immense privilege to document and share someone's story. While we couldn't communicate directly using language, we both understood one another and navigated the day in a working silence that was beautiful. 

As we walked to the rice paddies, she showed me the location where the Army had killed her husband. No words were necessary to express her immense grief. We then continued to the rice paddies on a remote hillside deep in the Himalayas. Esita worked hard laboring in the fields all day, and I was honored to document her day. 

My experience with Esita was the first time in my photojournalism career where I felt as though I'd stepped into my dream of becoming a National Geographic photographer, traveling to distant locations to gather stories that explore the deep layers of our shared human experience. 

This image was created on film using a Canon 1V with a 28mm lens and was part of grant funded work documenting the stories of those impacted by the decades long Maoist conflict.  

A 1-1 edition NFT of this image with the embedded article from this assignment is available on Foundation app. https://foundation.app/@cstreet/a-day-s-work-50982