December 8, 2015
Photographers Association of Nepal Commends SGI President
The Professional National Photographic Society (PNPS) of Nepal presented its Pioneer of Photo Literature award to Daisaku Ikeda, SGI president, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of his visit to Nepal in 1995. PNPS President Ram Krishna Manandhar and General Secretary Pradeep Kumar Shakya entrusted the award to Mr. Ikeda's son, SGI Vice President Hiromasa Ikeda, at the Soka International Women's Center in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, on December 8, 2015. The society also conferred an honorary life membership on Mr. Ikeda.
The citation on the award reads in part: "Dr. Ikeda's photographs evoke a narrative in the mind of the viewer, a story with its own spirit and heart. As such, they constitute a new genre of the photographic art that we . . . have given the designation "photo literature."
Mr. Manandhar had been introduced to Mr. Ikeda's photographs through "Dialogue with Nature," an exhibition of his photographic works, held in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 2004. He comments, "I was truly inspired. Since the exhibition, my own photography has been deeply influenced by Dr. Ikeda's works. In particular, when I saw the photograph he took of the Himalayas, I felt as though a boundless story was unfolding before me. The brilliant crimson of the sunset skies, together with the green mountain range in the foreground, are expressions of Nepal's nature. From the foot of these peaks rises smoke from the village, depicting daily life in Nepal. It is a beautiful work harmonizing nature and human activity."
PNPS President Manandhar (5th from left) entrusts the award to Mr. Hiromasa Ikeda (5th from right)
[Adapted from an article in the December 9, 2015, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan]
