A photography platform based in Lalitpur in Nepal, photo.circle hosts workshops, exhibitions and lectures, with a focus on the histories of marginalised communities in the country. It was founded in 2007 by NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati and Bhushan Shilpakar, with the intention to support the growing number of independent photographers in Nepal and to foster artistic engagement with the country’s history and politics, especially in the aftermath of the 2006 People’s Movement that established federal democracy in Nepal. 

During its early years, photo.circle functioned mainly as an informal space for gathering and critique, hosting presentations by artists and film screenings, both in Lalitpur and Kathmandu; as well as monthly critique sessions for local photographers in Kathmandu. With a focus on transparency, it also encourages audience engagement with the research methodology and ethics involved in their projects. Since its inception, the organisation has also facilitated and raised funds for projects by local artists. 

In 2011, photo.circle set up Nepal Picture Library (NPL), an archival project that collects and digitises photographs of life in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Nepal, exhibiting and publishing many of these in photobooks. Following the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, photo.circle created the Instagram account Nepal Photo Project (@nepalphotoproject), initially to document the aftermath of the disaster; later this became a platform to share its other documentary ventures, and those of its fellows. In 2020, photo.circle announced the first PC Fellowship, which was awarded to fifteen Nepal-based artists working on stories related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The PC fellowship focuses on a different theme for each cycle and supports awardees with mentorship. 

photo.circle’s most widely-known project is Photo Kathmandu, an international photography festival held biennially in Lalitpur. Founded in 2015, the festival has gained a reputation for being a space that supports South Asian journalists who have faced censorship and repression. Its exhibitions are set up in public spaces across the city rather than at conventional venues, allowing the public at large to encounter the work of local and international photographers and photojournalists.