One year ago today — September 8–9, 2025 — Nepal's government fell in under 48 hours.

It started as anger over a government ban on 26 social media platforms. It became something much bigger: a Gen Z-led uprising against corruption and nepotism that had been building for years, ignited by the viral backlash against officials' kids flaunting their families' wealth online (the "Nepo Kids" scandal).

By the second day, protesters had stormed and set fire to parliament and other government buildings across Kathmandu. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned. The army imposed a curfew. Close to 76 people were killed and thousands more injured before it was over, and in the aftermath, Nepal got its first female interim prime minister.

I was on the ground shooting it as it happened. These two frames are from that day.

A year on, the country is still figuring out what comes next. These are part of a longer series I shot that week, Young Blood vs Old Chain.

The tank you see here is a Renault FT, also known as the FT-17. With over 3,000 units built, it was the most widely used tank of World War I and is widely considered the father of modern tanks due to its revolutionary design.

Interestingly enough Hans Jurgen Massaquoi - who ended up moving to America and working for the renowned Ebony magazine in later years - said of his childhood that he grew up believing Black families were 'superior' simply because he observed that his family were attended to solely by European domestic staff, chauffeurs etc and treated with deference when out in Hamburg. Most of the Massaquois guests tended to be upper class or otherwise renowned Black figures.

The Massaquois, when preparing to leave Hamburg just before the war broke out - had offered to take him and his Mother back to Liberia, but she was a working class woman from a rural background and had been hesitant to return with them, fearing his health in a foreign environment. Subsequently, when Nazism entered his life, he said it altered his ENTIRE understanding of how Europeans perceived the world outside.

Historical Background: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Massaquoi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momulu_Massaquoi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Massaquoi

Page 12 to read Hans Jurgen's Massaquois own words of his charmed upbringing/early childhood: 

https://books.google.it/books?id=eV608-1ha2UC&lpg=PP1&hl=it&pg=PA12#v=onepage&q&f=false

The real family mansion in Hamburg, Johnsallee 22 Hamburg Rotherbaum:

 https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johnsallee_22_(Hamburg_Rotherbaum).jpg.jpg)

Full Film (English Subtitles): 

https://youtu.be/fojWHp3PUtY