Over the years I have had many people ask me if they could assist me on one of my trips. I’ve never been too anxious to do so because I felt it would be too disruptive to have more “foreigners” than necessary show up in a remote village or at a nomad’s tent taking photos…. Read more »
One of the things that amazed me as I traveled through what was formally Kham and Amdo on the Tibetan Plateau was the amount of new construction at many of the Tibetan Monasteries. It was not only the amount of new construction but the size and quality of the new monasteries and prayer halls that… Read more »
During the month of May an obscure fungus becomes the major focus of people living on the Tibetan Plateau. The Cordyceps sinensis fungus is known locally as Yartsa Gunbu or Caterpillar Fungus. The fungus devours and eventually mummifies its host, the ghost moth caterpillar, from inside out during the caterpillar’s hibernation on the mountain grasslands between… Read more »
Pilgrims about to cross the 15,000 foot Chola Pass on their 2500 kilometer pilgrimage to Lhasa, prostrating the entire way. The devotion of the Tibetan people is unbelievable. As I travel through the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, one thing has become very apparent. Tibetan Buddhism is enjoying a strong resurgence. Almost every Monastery I visit is… Read more »
We met Choqhua, a monk from the small and remote Trakkar Monastery near Labrang in Gansu Province. We spent 3 days staying with him in his little cottage. He took us to the tiny remote village where he grew up and to a nearby cave where the 9th Panchen Lama was said to have meditated. … Read more »
News sent from Phil while working on a second book in Tibet: I’m in Gansu Province on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau adding to my collection of stories of people who live on the plateau. I’m traveling with Stevan from North Carolina and Inigo who is currently living in Singapore — Both are photographers that I… Read more »
For cross-cultural global health programs it’s critical to ensure that there is compatibility between the values of the program and the recipient culture. Since most Tarahumara women live several hours or days away from the nearest clinic or hospital they suffer one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in North America. Of course it… Read more »
I recently returned from the Copper Canyon located in the Sierra Tarahumara in Northern Mexico where I was documenting the work of the non-profit organization One HEART as they address the high rate of infant and maternal mortality among the indigenous Tarahumara. There are about 70,000 Tarahumara Indians—or Rarámuri—scattered throughout the Sierra living in natural shelters such as… Read more »
I’m often asked how I gain access and go about photographing people in the developing world. First of all your mental attitude as you approach someone to take their photo is critical to your success no matter if the person you approach is from a remote tribe in Irian Jaya or someone on the streets… Read more »
Once One HEART’s work was terminated there was nothing I could document other than the frantic two weeks Arlene Samen (Executive Director of One HEART) spent trying to get permission for her organization to continue its work. After the decision to stop One HEART’s work in Tibet had been made, Arlene left for Nepal. She… Read more »
