On Everest
Sasha Bezzubov
(2016-2024)
On Everest is a series of portraits and landscapes made in Nepal during several treks in the Everest region between 2016 and 2024.
When I started hiking in Nepal, one of the first things I noticed were the porters. Some of the porters are familiar to westerners – they carry the equipment and supplies needed for trekking and mountaineering expeditions. These porters are paid a small wage by the trekking companies, but depend largely on tips. They are motivated by the possibility of ascending the ranks to become cooks, guides and trip organizers. Their labor is difficult and dangerous, yet somewhat regulated. For instance, the weight these porters carry is limited to 30 kilos (66 lbs.). At least in theory, this work can provide a chance at upward mobility in a region with little economic opportunity.
The second group - commercial porters - are the porters documented in this project. Usually, commercial porters do not have the education or opportunity to move up through the ranks, nor do they have any worker protections. These porters carry the supplies needed for the lodges that cater to trekkers, from crates of beer to sheets of plywood. Their loads range from an excruciating 60 - 140 kilos (132 - 300 lbs.), sometimes as much as twice their weight. Because they get paid by weight, they are incentivized to carry as much as possible. To save the little money they make, they economize on meals and often share a single bed between two-three people. As altitudes rise, so do the prices, and even these sparse accommodations become increasingly costly. The work is physically demanding even outside of the weight they carry, and they are often subject to respiratory infections, altitude sickness, hypothermia and chronic disability.
This project builds on my photographic work on tourism and tourist populations in the developing world, starting in 1997 with The Gringo Project. Most of my previous work involves documenting travelers themselves, but in On Everest the traveler's presence is implied through the portraits of porters and the things they carry. Everything they carry - whether toilet paper, mattresses or building materials - is ultimately for the trekkers. On Everest, this harsh labor was happening right alongside me, on the same trails I was hiking, in front of the thousands of trekkers who come to Nepal to hike in the most spectacular mountains in the word. Being a tourist is always full of contradictions and hypocrisies, but those conflicts can often be temporarily shelved for the sake of leisure and rest. The labor behind tourism is usually hidden, with much effort, to provide a kind of seamless enjoyment for the tourist. On Everest, it is impossible not to see the individuals doing this work. Their hardship is laid bare in the sublime mountains of the Himalayas and it is this very labor that makes these exalted adventures possible.
