ABSTRACT
The intensive and consumer-driven popular culture of images in South Asia poses significant questions for the presentation of photography in dedicated photo festivals in the region: how are images transformed by their presentation and interpretation, and how can the private encounters of public images figure in our understanding of the image? Introducing and examining the Chobi Mela and Photo Kathmandu festivals, each notable for their carefully considered installations and public presentations of photography, this text examines the significance of the images delivery and staging in the construction of conditions of relation and specificity, where an images manifestation can play a key role in how it will be understood long beyond the limited timeframes of exhibition.
