Magic Days
Magic Days is a photo essay on the days of the hippies, through the intimate images of William Forbes and Susan Burns. This American couple has lived at the base of Swayambhu Hill on and off since the early 1970s. During the height of the ‘magic days’ they befriended renowned ‘real’ hippies and beatniks in Kathmandu, including Ira Cohen, Petra Vogt and Hetty McGee.
Freak Street is an integral part of Nepal’s modern history, and indeed of a global youth culture of the late 1960s, yet the hippie period is yet to be formally documented – especially in pictures. This booklet is a first initiative by Lucia de Vries and Nepal Picture Library to preserve the images and memories of these unforgettable days.
The essay can be here.
What the media say about this book:
Nepali Times: Quality photos of this era are rare. Cameras got stolen and others got swapped for hand-knotted carpets. But even those who had cameras snapped few personal pictures. “The whole scene was a kind of underground,” Forbes explained, “no one liked to have their pictures taken. There was this privacy thing. You thought of the people you left behind. They might not like seeing you stoned or doing crazy things.”
How to order the book?
Magic Days is published by Nepal Picture Library and can be ordered here. It is also available at a number of Kathmandu bookshops.