Bodh Gaya Prayer Festival
An international Buddhist chanting festival takes place each December at the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya, the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment and the foremost Buddhist pilgrimage site. Bodh Gaya was not blessed with beautiful light or color at this time, and I’ve struggled to like these images I made there during one of my [...]
Dalai Lama in Zanskar
At dawn thousands of people were waiting for the Dalai Lama to arrive. There was always a little doubt about him actually coming, but then a spec of a helicopter appeared far down the valley and we all knew it was him. As the helicopter approached, people lined the road to his residence at the [...]
Zangla Nunnery
This is Zangla Nunnery, a.k.a. Chomo Gompa. Thanks to two friends I’m staying in Angmo’s room. Angmo is the nunnery’s current Chantmaster which involves a lot of work and she’s rarely in her room, but she has more good energy and charm than anyone I’ve met in a long time. Since my ankle hasn’t healed [...]
Tsampa House
Three main crops are grown in Zanskar: barley, wheat and peas. The growing season is very short but there’s usually a surplus. Most harvesting is done by hand and people share the labor, although machines are increasingly used. Flours from each of these are used for all kinds of food. Barley flour, called tsampa, is [...]
A Great Little Day!
Today was a great little day for me. I stumbled onto a small festival where I was the only non-Ladakhi and the locals just brought me into the fold. The exact reason for the festival is still unclear to me, but monks and nuns from different monasteries were there to recite some Buddhist texts. The [...]
dZi Foundation | Vision Clinic
Another good day. Today I photographed dZi’s vision clinic, which was transported and set up at the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies in Choglamsar in the morning and at Thiksey Monastery in the afternoon. These images are of people reading eye charts at CIB. DZi can make most glasses on the spot for people, including [...]
dZi Foundation | Dental Clinic
For the past few days I’ve photographed a vision and dental clinic for local students organized by the dZi Foundation. DZi partners with Himalayan Dental Relief Project, the Lion’s Club, and the Ladakh Nuns Association to put together this clinic in Ladakh, which is in its 10th year. The dentists, eye specialists, and most volunteers [...]
Ladakh Prayer Festival: Day 3
Today’s festival included a big chanting march around town at midday, but my photographic interests were indoors as usual here. (I like soft, darker light.) The nuns are finally getting used to me and I’ve made friends with two nuns in their late 40s/early 50s. One has a cleft lip, speaks no English, and is [...]
Ladakh Prayer Festival: Day 1
About 1,300 Ladakhi Buddhist monks and nuns have gathered here in Leh at Soma Gompa for a five-day prayer festival called Ladakh Monlam Chemo. The monks sit in the main shrine and the nuns occupy a separate space (which is third-rate in comparison). It runs from 8 – 4 and includes breakfast and lunch. I [...]
