Between Gettysburg and Nepal, award-winning photographer Anukul Gurung '09 has found his vision.

"As I walked down the streets of Kathmandu, my hometown, for the first time in three years after returning from the United States, I was heartbroken to see that the number of homeless people had clearly increased at least threefold," Gurung wrote. "I was saddened even more to find that most of them were children."

He listened to the people's stories and snapped their photos. His images earned him two honorable mentions in 2008's Lucie Awards competition, which included some 22,000 entries from 124 countries. A gallery of Gurung's photography is on the National Geographic website, whose editors featured one of his images in December (below, left).

Drawing and painting have always been important parts of Gurung's life, but Gettysburg College provided resources--from cameras to exhibition space to faculty support--that helped add photography to his palette. The College facilitated his participation in a juried gallery exhibition in York, Pa., where his work won an award of excellence.

After graduation, Gurung hopes to document conditions in other parts of the developing world as preparation for a career in journalism or with a non-governmental aid organization. A service learning trip to Selma, Alabama his sophomore year helped him see that raising public awareness is a key part of creating change. After meeting veterans of the civil rights struggle, he said, "I felt something happen. It was powerful. If ordinary people can make a difference, I can too."

Graduate school may be part of the picture, but Gurung feels well prepared for whatever future he chooses. "I picked a liberal arts college so that I could explore," he said. His major is in visual arts, but he has completed extensive studies in computer science as well. His career preparation experience at Gettysburg has also included an externship at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Mass., a paid internship in the College's web communications office, and a summer internship at dotCMS, a leading web design and development firm in Miami.

"I'm so lucky to have all these resources," he said. "It's my privilege to try to give something back." Gurung organized a special exhibition and sale of his photographs to raise funds for children in Nepal.

Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences. With a student body of approximately 2,500, it is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. The college was founded in 1832.

Contact: Jim Hale, online content editor