The tragic earthquake, the past 13 years of my life coming and going to Nepal, the locations chosen for this festival, the photographers who love Nepal as I do, the incredible work that was shot here and shown in Nepal for the first time - all of these factors made this an incredibly unique and meaningful experience. I truly believe there will never be another as special as this year's Photo Kathmandu. 

Kathmandu and especially Patan, where the
 

festival took place, is a massive, intricate maze of alleys and gullies. Miles of tiny streets make this  city's unique web the most confusing and wonderful place to navigate.

PKTM (Photo Kathmandu) is an exhibition treasure hunt. With over 18 exhibitions and 7 slideshows held in alley ways, parks within gullies, hidden temples and private homes, we needed a way to show foreigners how to get to each
exhibition. Dropped pins were clues and the map

was a key to the hunt. By far, my favorite part of  the festival was hunting down these exhibitions and seeing exhibitions in their local nook. Someof the locations were spectacularly nestled in gardens, within clusters of homes, inaccessible by car or motorcycle. 

On a professional level I learned so much. I designed print materials, 8 x 12 feet large for sides of buildings and temples. It was an incredible challenge. 

The most important and challenging design was the folded map and schedule.  I wanted it to be useful, clean, intuitive and eye-catching. I wanted both Nepali people and tourists to interact with it. It had to fit in a pocket and not be annoying to open and carry around. Each fold or unfold had to take you down a new design path.