Tibet

Remembering Adam Yauch

Remembering Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys on his 49th birthday, Monday, August 5. Adam was a regular diner at Moonpeak Thali when it opened in 2009.

Favourite books on Tibet and Dharamshala

A huge number of books has been published on Tibet, ranging across travel memoir, history, biography, polemics and philosophy. Some, without doubt, are more readable than others. The following is very much a personal selection, favouring books that I have enjoyed because of their profundity, their clarity in telling a complex story, or the moving … Continue reading →

Cracking open the world

“I felt so fortunate that this story fell into my lap. As a writer, how often does that happen?” says Thomas K. Shor. In Sikkim, Shor was introduced to an elderly Bhutanese woman whose story would, he was told, make him question his sense of reality. In 1962 she had left her land and everything … Continue reading →

Tibetans assert identity with cross-border protest

A movement that outsmarts Chinese authorities by promoting Tibetan culture has crossed the Himalayas and is gathering strength in India Many people visit Dharamshala to get an experience of Tibetan culture, which has been under severe strain since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in the 1950s. For decades, exiled Tibetans have gone to great lengths … Continue reading →

Photo exhibition: Glimpses of Tibet, 1914-2010

8-12 March: Photo exhibition Glimpses of Tibet, 1914-2010. Photographs by Dundul Namgyal Tsarong, Alexandra David-Neel, Lobsang Samten Taklha, and recent visitors to Tibet. The exhibition covers three periods: 1914-57, the delegation to Tibet in 1979 led by Lobsang Samten Taklha, the elder brother of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Tibet from 2000 to 2010. … Continue reading →

Moonpeak Magazine No. 4

Photography course: field trip to the temple and the Lingkor

As part of Moonpeak’s first photography course, the group met at the entrance to the Dalai Lama’s temple and photographed snack sellers, monks, nuns, pilgrims and passersby. We then walked the Lingkor, the sacred path that circles the temple and residence, photographing the shrines, prayer wheels and prayer flags that line the route. These are … Continue reading →

Shooting by candlelight

There have been several candlelight vigils in Dharamshala marking a series of recent self-immolations in Tibet to protest Chinese rule. Covering these events presents particular challenges to the photographer. Here is some advice on how to photograph under such low light conditions.   Use fast lenses preferably with maximum apertures of f1.8 or larger. Usually … Continue reading →

Interview with fine art photographer David Roberts

A SENSE OF PRESENCE David Roberts uses a view camera with a 1.6 metre bellows and a 21¼-inch lens to make richly detailed, hand-crafted images. In 2007 he was granted the rare privilege of a portrait session with the Dalai Lama during one of His Holiness’ regular visits to Australia. The photographs, enlarged to greater … Continue reading →

Tibet: Culture on the Edge – Phil Borges

In the epilogue to Culture on the Edge, Phil Borges turns his lens inward. ‘I didn’t want to point an accusing finger. After a year and a half traveling across the Tibetan plateau and seeing the issues the Tibetans face, my finger ultimately came around to point at me.’ He is talking about climate change, … Continue reading →