Michael Yamashita | Tea Road To Lhasa

Michael Yamashita of the National Geographic Magazine will share his images and stories from his newest publication, Shangri-La: Along the Tea Road to Lhasa at the Asia Society on February 21st, 2013 in New York.

His journey starts in Jiuzhaigou (The Valley of Nine Villages), whuch is considered by Chinese photographers as the most photogenic place in China. It was here that Yamashita first heard of the ancient trade route, the Tea-Horse Road. This route was established roughly 4,000 years ago when Chinese merchants began trading tea to Tibetans, in exchange for horses, much in need for China's constant battles against mounted Mongol invaders.

Often mistakenly known as the Southern Silk Road, the Chamagudao has also served as a major channel for cultural exchange between China and Tibet. More recently this region has become plagued by many new environmental challenges such as a booming trade in chongcao, catetpillar fungus, a Chinese medicament much in demand which has lured whole villages to dig destructively through virgin lands.

There'll be a free live webcast of the talk on the 21st of February.

Photo © Michael Yamashita-All Rights Reserved

Sheila Rock: Sera, The Way Of The Tibetan Monk

Photo © Sheila Rock-All Rights Reserved

The Sera monastery is near Mysore (India) and houses 5,000 Buddhist monks living in exile.  It's one of the best locations to witness the monk debates on the teachings of Buddha and the philosophy of Buddhism. It developed over the centuries as a famous place of scholarly learning, training hundreds of Buddhist scholars.

Sheila Rock is based in London, and her photographs were published in TIME, Elle, Glamour, Rolling Stone, Architectural Digest and the Sunday Times. Her photographs were shown in various exhibitions in New York City, London and Turin. Her portraits form part of the public collection at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The Way of The Tibetan Monks' gallery of duotone photographs depicts the way of life in this Buddhist community, and shows a fraction of the photographs published in the photographer's book of the same title.

Writing of monk debates reminded me that I photographed and audio recorded the lively monk debates in a monastery in Bhutan, titled Sangha Debates.

Jonah M. Kessel: Tibet

Photo © Jonah M. Kessel- All Rights Reserved

It's been a while since I featured  images of Tibet, and Jonah Kessel's work is well worth the wait. I particularly liked his use of a wide angle lens, like the above picture.

Jonah M. Kessel is an interactive art director, visual journalist and also describes himself as a nomadically curious photographer. His company, currently based in Beijing, offers visual communication solutions on a wide array of platforms including photography, amongst others.

Prior to working as the Creative Director of China Daily in Beijing, Jonah worked as a photography and design consultant for the Journalism Development Group in North Africa; as the Visual Director of the Tahoe Daily Tribune in South Lake Tahoe, Calif.; and as a freelance photographer for multiple media outlets across the United States. He received more than 35 awards from media organizations for his photography, web and design projects.

His international travels took him to Algeria, Malaysia, India, China, Tibet, Nepal, and the Philippines.

Frederic Lemalet: Tibet

Photo © Frederic Lemalet-All Rights Reserved

Frederic Lemalet is a French travel photographer who, evidenced by his focus on Tibet, is in love with that region. He traveled to Alaska, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, China, and Nepal...but it's Tibet that seduced him

Between 2003 and 2009, Frederic spent 3 years in Tibet, documenting its culture which may soon disappear. Distributing his time between his native France and Tibet, he's currently working on publishing books, and displaying his images in exhibitions. The last exhibition was "Himalaya" and held in Montier-en-Der (north-eastern France).

His Tibet gallery has 44 photographs, with a number of lovely portraits like the one I chose above...but don't miss those of the famous Tibetan wide open spaces, and of the Tibetan pilgrim praying in a sort of crude shelter made of stones. The photographs span the four seasons; a testament to Frederic's dedication to the region.

Neil Wade: Kham & Amdo

Neil Wade is an editorial and corporate photographer based in Taipei, Taiwan. His photography was featured in varied magazines as National Geographic, Forbes, The Financial Times of London and Skateboarder.

Kham is a region currently split between the Tibetan Autonomous Region and the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Qinghai. The people of Kham are reputed warriors. Many Khampas are members of the Bon religion; an esoteric branch of Tibetan Buddhism, and are considered with suspicion by more mainstream Tibetan sects.

The traditional Tibetan region of Amdo is located on the northeast corner of the Tibetan Plateau. Most of Amdo lies in modern day Qinghai province. It is famous for producing some of Tibet's most famous spiritual leaders.

Eric Kruszewski: Tibet

Eric Kruszewski is a Baltimore-native, who started traveling internationally in 2005. He is drawn to new cultures, faces, practices and daily life. His website features galleries from Tibet, Mongolia, India, Georgia, and closer to home, Alaska and the American West. Spend some time at Eric's Mongolia gallery, which has some nice photographs of the Naadam festival.

The above photograph is of Tibetans prostrating themselves in Lhasa. Prostration is an important expression of Tibetan Buddhism. It's said that Tibetans are expected to prostrate themselves 100,000 times a year. Although they prostrate themselves at temples, some pilgrims cover the entire 33-mile route around Mount Kailas by repeatedly prostrating themselves.

The first time I saw a Buddhist pilgrim prostrating himself in such a way was at the Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, about 10 years ago. He wore a full-body leather apron, and wooden "clogs" for his hands, and he circumambulated the stupa for as long as I was there.

Kares Le Roy: Tibet & More

Here's the photographic work of Kares Le Roy, a French photographer and graphic designer. Unfortunately, his bio is very limited on his web site, but he traveled and photographed in Tibet, Nepal, India, Bali, Cuba, Cambodia and Morocco...returning with quite an inventory of photographs which he categorizes as Portraits, Life, Street and Landscape.

Christian Bobst: Tibetans In India

Photo © Christian Bobst - All Rights Reserved

Christian Bobst is a Swiss photographer based in Zürich who originally studied graphic design, and became interested in documentary photography.  While working for advertising agencies, he won several national and international advertising awards.  At this time, he works as a freelance art and creative director as well as a documentary photographer.

Dharamsala, or more accurately Mcleod Ganj, is the home of the Dalai Lama and the exiled Tibetan government. The Tibetan settlement of Dharamsala began in 1959, when the Dalai Lama had to flee Tibet, and was allowed to settle in Upper Dharamsala or McLeod Ganj. It's sometimes known as 'Little Lhasa' after the Tibetan capital city.

Christian's photo gallery of the transplanted Tibetans who live in Dharamsala explores the Tibetans' way of life in this small town in north India in their homes, stores, at the doctor and their places of worship. Even if you've never been to Dharamsala, these photographs will give you an excellent insight on the small Tibet enclave in north India.

The above photograph is a classic street photography gem. The Indian woman in the traditional shalwar kameez eying the passing Tibetan in her own dress.