Home > Culture > Mentor Showcase > Tibet in the Eyes of 100 Photographers
Tibet in the Eyes of 100 Photographers
Notes from a 2005 trip to the top of the world. Be sure to take in the accompanying photos, which are posted in our Gallery.
Elie Berkman
Details about Tibet
The Tibet Autonomous Region is an ethnic autonomous area located in southwest China, on the main body of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The region has a population of 2.7 million, with Tibetans as the main local inhabitants along with other ethnic groups — Han, Hui, Moinba, Lhoa, Naxi, Nu, Drung and others. Tibet fascinates all with its grandiose natural scenery, landscapes, holy mountains and lakes, ancient architecture, unique cultures and sacred temples. Tibet is also a “paradise” for photographers.
From June 25 through July 10, 2005, three Chinese and Tibetan organizations sponsored “Tibet in the Eyes of 100 Photographers.” Forty-eight photographers from 19 countries joined 40 Chinese photographers to visit and record Lhasa City and Xigaze, Shannan, Nyingchi and Naggu regions. We photographed more than 100 places, focusing on natural scenery, religious, cultural and educational sites, folk custom and folkway, villages, factories and many more areas. Over 100,000 photographs were collected. (We own them.) From these, 400 were selected to be shown in an exhibition in Beijing from Aug. 11 through 17, 2005. We expect that a book will be produced for the people of Tibet to celebrate our achievement and to commemorate this beautiful event.
Daniel Cox
ASMP Membership Brought Me to the Top of the World
What a surprise it was for my wife and me to receive an invitation from the Chinese Photographers Association to come and tour Tibet. They were referred to us by way of the ASMP national office. My original plan was to be in Montana for the entire summer working on several long-term projects. However, it didn’t take me long to realize what an amazing offer this was. I surmised that going with a group of photographers, sponsored by the Chinese government, was going to definitely give us access opportunities we wouldn’t normally receive. I wasn’t disappointed!
We began in Beijing. Our Chinese hosts greeted us at the airport and, from that moment on, we were treated almost like royalty. Well, that may a bit exaggerated. But coming from a background as a natural history stock shooter, nice hotels, fabulous Chinese meals and free transportation are pretty close to upper-class status in my mind. We spent a couple of days in Beijing and were treated to some of the normal tourist venues as well as some minor Chinese political introductions. I should mention right here and now that, going into this situation, I knew that the goal of this tour was to show the positive things going on in Tibet. In all fairness, there is a lot.
We read many travel books about the filthiness of Lhasa, the capitol city. It was obvious that the books had old information. Lhasa is gorgeous! We based ourselves in the capitol for several days, shooting the incredibly photogenic people, the awe-inspiring Potala Palace (where the Dalai Lama lived until he was 15 years old) and numerous other uniquely Tibetan opportunities.
The next few days, we traveled outside of Lhasa and high into the mountains: 16,700 feet high, to be exact, based on a GPS unit from one of our fellow photographers. We spent the night at Lake Namatsu and nearly froze in our tent. It was the only time we had great opportunities for beautiful light since we were fortunate to be at a great place for landscapes when the sun rose and set. The altitude was too much for some, however. Seventeen people out of the 100 invited photographers came down with altitude sickness and had to fly back to Beijing early.
Our final night in Tibet we were treated to a brilliantly colored fashion show of traditional Tibetan costumes from the many different provinces around the country. We ate traditional Tibetan food and enjoyed some relaxing time to discuss the prior ten days with our fellow photographers. All in all, it was a shoot I will never forget. I’ve been fortunate to travel extensively in my life, but this was one of the most inspiring and enjoyable journeys I’ve ever been on.
More images by the Coxes
For more images from Daniel and Tanya’s visit to Tibet, please visit the Natural Exposures website. Daniel’s photos … Tanya’s photos … Some shots with the Nikon Coolpix
Making prints in the field
We took along a portable, battery operated HP printer; here are some shots of it in action. My wife Tanya was in charge of making the prints and working with our photo subjects.
In our travels through Tibet, the printers were exceptionally well received and, in fact, we had to be selective as to when and where we used them. Several times, we nearly had mini-riots when we didn’t have the time to make a print for all people in the crowd. Not only were the printers a hit with our photo subjects, but the 100 photographers who were invited for this adventure were equally impressed and, frankly, we were the envy of many. Several of the professionals specifically mentioned that they would be returning home to purchase one of the units we were using. Additionally, my wife was interviewed four different times by Chinese television stations, including CCTV, for stories pertaining to the event we were a part of as well as the uniqueness of printing in the field with the HP printer.
The printer worked flawlessly and the batteries lasted much longer than we expected. In fact, we only used one and half batteries the entire 10 days, and we never had to bring more than one of the three printers we had into service, since there were no problems with the main printer we started off with. In short, it was a very positive use of this uniquely portable technology, and it was sincerely well received by all who came in contact with us. It was a joy to give something back to our subjects, as opposed to always taking.
Ron Gould
Tibet Recap
The first thing about Tibet is that it takes your breath away, literally.
You land at 12,300 feet above sea level, and you have to allow three days to adjust to the altitude. All the photographers involved in this shoot had to have medical clearance from their doctors before the Chinese government would allow us to travel there. Each group had a doctor traveling with it.
But the people, culture and scenery were all worth it. In the two weeks we were in Tibet, the 100 selected photographers were split into four groups that traveled the length and breath of the country. We were privileged to go to areas of the country still forbidden to foreign tourists. Almost every person we encountered — from monks in their monasteries to shepherds to Tibetan villagers — were interested in us and completely at ease with being photographed.
And the scenery was breathtaking. I only hope my still photos and stitched panoramas can convey the awesome glaciers, mountain passes, and the 1,700-year-old monasteries that we had the opportunity to experience.
The trip was physically hard. The altitude (over 16,000 feet in the mountains) and the ten- to twelve-hour days in the bus on dirt roads made for long, difficult days. Many days, we were taken before sunrise to areas for the best daybreak photos of the Potala Palace or other scenic vistas.
Part of the experience in Tibet was getting to know the 99 other photographers from around the world. In my group of 25, I was the only American. The others were from Germany, Slovakia, Macao, Holland, New Zealand, etc. I would watch how they shot and what cameras they used, and we would trade cameras so we could have photos with monks, or farmers, or each other, for our own when we got home.
Since most of us shot digitally, we could view each other’s work over dinner and talk shop: Canon vs. Nikon, file sizes, storage preferences. It was a very friendly, open group.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will stay with me forever.
Visit Ron Gould’s web site.
Forest McMullin
Tibet — A Modern Shangri-la
Most Westerners think of Tibet as mysterious, a Shangri-la that that hides behind the Himalayas. As recently as 1950, 50 percent of Tibetan children died before their eighteenth birthday, the average life expectancy was 35 years, and there was no electricity or running water in the entire country. Today, the average life expectancy is 62, the capital (Lhasa) is served by a modern airport, and a high-speed railway will link Tibet with China.
While many aspects of Tibetan life have seen rapid modernization, the most fundamental center is unchanged after a thousand years and massive political upheaval. At the core of every Tibetan is Buddhism. To paraphrase an old American football coach, with Tibetans, religion isn’t the most important thing — it is the only thing. They make the most devout Western religious practitioner seem like an amateur in comparison. Buddhism is infused in all things Tibetan.
In spite of (or perhaps because of) a religious practice that seems quite rigorous, Tibetans are a people who take joy in everyday life. It is common to hear them singing while doing the most menial of jobs, and laughter comes easily. They have a saying, “If you have a leg, you can dance. If you have a voice, you can sing.” This simple saying, more than anything else, describes the Tibetan people. It is that joy I want to remember.
Photographs often serve to remind or reinforce our memories. They take us to places that have meaning for us, places that made us happy or sad, scenes of our successes, milestones in our lives. They can also help create memories.
In the months since I returned from Tibet, as I drive to my studio or walk the dog, I find it harder and harder to remember the taste of yak butter tea, the sound of monks chanting, the smell of butter candles. But then I look at my pictures and I’m there again. The colors, the textures, the faces of the people: they all help me relive the experience. When I look at my images that show the blue of the sky, the laughter of a monk, the clicking of a loom, I’m there again.
When I travel or work on a story, I can’t be a detached observer. I need to feel a connection with the people and places I photograph. I need to take the time to sit quietly sipping tea with a family, to take a walk with a farmer, to play with a child. I need to be able to hike up a mountainside or see city streets at dawn. It is that connection that makes these pictures something other than a conventional travelogue. They are much more personal than that. They are a reflection of what I felt in that place, at that time. They are an important reminder of my experience of Tibet.
You can see some more images from the trip at the Forest McMullin Photography website.
David Noyes
Journey to Tibet
For years I longed to visit Tibet. Maybe it was a fascination inspired by romanticized movies, or maybe it was the powerful lure of a distant land of myth that few western travelers have ever experienced, but I could barely contain my joy as I crowded at a portal window to steal a momentary glimpse of a magical snow-capped mountain as we made our descent into Gongkar (Gonggar) Airport. I was traveling alone on a spontaneous trip to photograph this beautiful land, but my journey to Tibet began almost twenty years ago. I vividly remember being captivated by a fleeting image of the Potala Palace in a television report that described how this isolated and obscure culture was increasingly accessible to a tightly controlled and limited number of outsiders. My pilgrimage started that day.
Just hours after arriving in Lhasa, I felt compelled to disregard the advice of my Chinese tour guide and took a taxi across town to the Potala Palace. I had come from sea level in Beijing to over 12,000 feet in just a matter of hours and knew that the effects of acute mountain sickness could be debilitating. I was advised to take my first day slowly, but I felt wonderful and wanted to experience a bit of Tibet before I settled into my comfortable room for the night and the controlled itinerary of my guided tour.
The drive down Beijing Road revealed what a large and increasingly modern city Lhasa was becoming. I was a bit surprised — and a bit disappointed — that the once-forbidden city was now a sprawling mini-metropolis of two hundred thousand people with contemporary buildings, shopping malls, nightclubs, and a sports stadium. I couldn’t help but think that maybe I was too late to experience the Tibet of my romantic vision. That feeling quickly changed to a childlike exhilaration when the Potala came into view through the dusty windows of my Lhasa taxi.
The next morning, we began a series of short excursions to monasteries and sites on the outskirts of Lhasa. On consecutive days, we visited the formally great Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) monasteries of Sera and Drepung. From the seventeenth century until recently, Drepung was the largest monastic university in the world and home to as many as 10,000 monks.
However, my visit to Drepung reflected a much different time in the history of this once-magnificent monastery tucked at the base of a hillside just eight kilometers west of Lhasa. Unlike Ganden, Drepung sustained very little damage during the Cultural Revolution, and its complex cluster of white buildings with narrow cobblestone roads resembles a small Mediterranean city.
I shuffled along quietly with our group into a small room illuminated by the golden glow of yak-butter candles when my eyes unexpectedly made contact with an elderly monk. He smiled at me and asked, in perfect English, “Where have you come from?” “The United States,” I answered. He then took my hand as we walked clockwise past a Buddhist shrine and whispered in a voice so quiet I could barely hear, “You have journeyed a very long way to visit Tibet.” I was overwhelmed by the warm touch of this graceful man. Moments later at the opposite door of the room, we made our parting. But before releasing my hand, he looked at me with a gentle smile and instructed, “When you return home … remember to pray for Tibet.” It was just my second full day in Lhasa, but at that moment I felt a chill through my entire body and knew that the next few days would be unforgettable.
As well as being an ASMP photographer, David Noyes is an award-winning travel writer. His narrative from his trip to Tibet will be published next spring in Lifestyle + Travel out of Bangkok, Thailand. You can see a chronological photo-journal of his tour, starting with portraits of a Nepalese chef in a French restaurant in Lhasa and culminating with an image of a dance performance on the last night in Tibet, on his web site.