This man was one of many monks living high up in the Tibetan mountains. A monastery was built into the side of the cliff, where there was very little food or water. These monks made money through donations of money, yak butter or necessities. Yak butter is fairly expensive and many people would donate it by dropping chunks of hard butter into butter lamps. It would melt into one solid piece of butter and then the monks would collect it and use it to buy food or whatever they needed.
The monks that lived on the hill, were not living in houses inside caves; they were extremely poor and spent most of their lives enclosed in rock with one light bulb hanging from the ceiling of the cave. A blanket would cover the entranceway to protect against wind and snow and the only thing keeping the monks warm at night was a pile of blankets on top of an old dirty mattress.
This particular monk had been living in his cave for close to 80 years; since he’s been a little boy. He had a little pink alarm clock sitting by his bed, probably donated, a thermos and a radio. He obviously did have electricity to power his radio and light bulb (his clock was powered by battery I presume). He had no stove and no toilet. They went to the washroom in a hole on the side of the cliff, not really a bathroom, a hole that was exposed to the ground with no walls. In order to warm up food, they had a huge dish that looked like a satellite that was reflective. It had wire that held up a teapot in the middle, the sunlight would bounce off the dish and collect in the center that warmed the water in the pot.
When I walked in this cave, it was the size of my bathroom, I saw this man sitting beside another monk, both in the sunlight to keep warm, which is why I have part of his body over exposed by sunlight. He looks very old and wise and he was very interested in seeing himself on my camera. I’m guessing he hasn’t taken a look in a mirror in a long time and so he was very pleased to see himself. Of course we do have to ask every person or monk that we want to take a picture of, because many Tibetans believe when they’re picture is taken, the camera will take a part of their soul. Surprisingly the monks were much more content, then the village people were, when their picture was taken. My guess is that monks were most likely a tourist attraction and they were used to cameras.
I love taking pictures of faces and I think he has a long story to tell. Just stop to look at his face and figure out his story.
Comments on This Photo (4)
really cool shot I love how the light brushes part of his face. and the black and white makes this picture so much more realistic and powerful
Nice portrait, Honey.
I’d have been freakin’ out up there, most likely :P Sounds grungy!
This is a good picture. He seemed very quiet and thoughtful at the time, and you have captured that.
Love this pictures Steph. you certainly captured his story.