October 18, 2008
For those of you who missed the first installment: Last
month I distributed digital cameras to numerous Tibetan refugees living
in Nepal. Their assignment was to document their daily lives over the
next several months. I will be posting pictures taken by these talented
men and women in the near future. The names of the Tibetans will not be
identified until the project is complete and published as a
photojournalist volume.
Hand painted T-shirt and tatoos
Selling hard cheese and making sweaters for tourists, are two livelihoods for Tibetan women.
Vending Tibetan handbags and carpets to tourists.
Some Nepalese earn their living off of the Tibetans by tailoring monks' and nun's robes.
Tibetan making curry for his family.
A priority for Tibetan refugees is taking care of one of their most valuable possessions: their elderly.
Hawking Tibetan language newspaper published in Nepal.
Tibetan youths hangout: poolhall.
Often the lines of religious activity and commerce blend in the Tibetan refugee community. Here, at Boudhanath Stupa, the hub of Tibetan spiritual practice, refugees practice Chora (circling a holy shrine while chanting). As the sun rises, Tibetan farmers also bring their produce to sell once Chora is over.
Gyamchoe: the practice of lighting 100 butter candles for the deceased, believed to be auspicous for the dead relatives next rebirth.
A special altar set up in a Tibetan household where a member of the family is seriously ill. The brightly painted tormas (butter sculptures) are envisioned as wrathful, thus frightening away evil spirits.
Lining up to present a Rinpoche with katags (silk scarves), a traditional Tibetan way to express respect.
Monk with traditional shell mala (rosary).
Lama blesses a newly purchased motercycle, believed to help prevent mishaps on the bike.
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