Photography and Tibet

Author, Clare Harris, talks about her book on photography in Tibet
- a place that has for centuries been a source of fascination for
outsiders and a captivating yet troublesome subject for
photographers. Mysterious and magnificent, Tibet has for centuries
been a source of fascination for outsiders and a captivating yet
troublesome subject for photographers. The country is both
geographically and politically challenging, and access has never
been easy. Even today, photography of Tibet often remains embroiled
in debates about the country’s past, present and future. This book
is the first historical survey of photography in Tibet and the
Himalayas, and it offers remarkable new insights into the attempts
of both foreign and Tibetan photographers to document the region.
Leading Tibetologist Professor Clare Harris (Pitt Rivers Museum)
combines the results of extensive research in museums and archives
with her own fieldwork in Tibetan communities to present material
that has never been made public or discussed before. This includes
the earliest known photographs taken in Tibet, dating to 1863, the
experimental camerawork of senior Tibetan monks – including the
13th Dalai Lama – and the creations of contemporary Tibetan
photographers and artists. With every image she examines the
complex religious, political and cultural climate in which it was
produced.