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There was a cogent reason that the Tibet Photography Association disagreed with me to proceed with this plan, a trip to Tibet for the second time.
the high mountain areas in winter wither the trees so I will suffer mortally from oxygen deficiency. Since abandoning the plan was never an option for me, I asked Mr. Juko, a Tibet born newspaper reporter for guide and support, and decided to visit his home country at the altitude of 5,200m.
Departing from Narita Airport, the trip began on December 26th, 2003, and from the 27th through January 7th, I was able to capture the events at temples and lives of nomads, and the everyday life of the unexplored Tibet.
First stop was at the priests' study workshop at Jean temple. It is 40km away from Lhasa at the foot of a mountain range, with a white wall of impressive beauty, and a long history of over 300 years. Future priests, 18 to 40 years of age, in other words the "elites", are recruited here from five temples around Lhasa, and here they study for tests to promote their priest ranks. The number of temples in Tibet is uncountable, yet the required ascetic practices to be in charge of one is substantial. The professor of those elites is an 85 year-old senior priest, who hardly appears in front of general public. We luckily were honored to have special permission to photograph his bedroom, and a shot of the 500 scholars in study from the roof of the temple.
The Tibetans' live at an altitude of 4,000m just below the sun, in intense sunlight. From here, the clouds are so close that I feel I can almost catch one. Spain is similar in the way that it is rich in sunlight, but it differs culturally from Tibet, where there is nothing but the mountains and the blue sky. This is a region fully surrounded by desert-like mountains, which reminds me of a view seen in the India-ink drawings.
First, the reading lesson started at 10:00. I was permitted to photograph freely but without using speed-light. Even though I have an authorized photographing permit of China, it does not allow me to photograph in here. It was especially permitted this time because my guide was a Tibetan. The scholars all responded to me with friendly smiles. The reading lesson was of a simple procedure that the professor read and the scholars repeat. The warmth of their hearts were reflected in the words they read, and their enormous energy as well.
After the morning study is over, the scholars stand at the entrance of the temple to receive offerings from the local people. Most of them give money, new bills they have just exchanged at the bank, others give rice, food, and oil. People come from all over the country and the entrance is crowded continuously for two weeks. They exceed the people of the temple in number. It was also interesting to see small children and elderly asking some for themselves. But the people generously grant their wish. Being poor doesn't affect their spiritual wealth, and seeing this sight made all my stray thoughts disappear.
At 2:00 a debate competition began in the open space of the temple. Two groups consisting of three scholars throw questions one after another to see if the opponent memorized the contents of the sutras correctly. Not only it is necessary to give the correct answer, but the contestant must answer timely to the question, also put on rhythm, or he fails. It was a truly amusing exercise. Even though I comprehend no word of Tibetan language, I was impressed by the spirit of putting a study into a form of entertainment, surely I saw one of the great essences of Tibetan Buddhism. What I did was climb up to the roof so that I can photograph the whole scenery of the exercise. There I captured a great contrast of many red costumes and black shaved heads surrounding the professor in the middle. I couldn't help but feel excited. I had a chance to visit this temple once again to photograph the scholars' close up shots and the kitchen.
The biggest theme of this trip was to photograph the lives of local people.
I headed to the home town of my guide, Mr. Juko, a journalist of Xinhua News Agency, also a man with the spirit of "throwing oneself on the ground". Thousands of people gather in Lhasa from all parts of the country when it approaches Tibet's New Year's Day, February 21st (January 22nd in Chinese lunar calendar). The preparation starts from December, and by the end of the year, people of the Tibetan tribe starts heading for the Potala temple, to offer both the body and soul to the god by putting one's body on the ground. Some come on back of trucks, but most of them by foot, taking weeks, some even with children.
On my way to Lhasa, I met four prayers, also heading for the Potala Temple. Their trip was of 300 kilometers, by foot. They have already walked for 20 days, towing their belongings on a cart with the sun shining down on their backs, but they were still only half way to Lhasa. I photographed their deeply tanned bodies, and the shot came out to be a very fascinating one. According to their saying, they get their food from local people, and it is very common that the people serve out food and tea to travelers, or even offer them a place to sleep for the night. This sure is a cultural difference. Tibetans live on their own virtue of being friendly to others. Even clothes were offered by locals as needed, and their past 20 days were supported by this virtue. It is perhaps a spontaneous thought when they all share the same goal, to visit the Potala temple.
A Barkor Bazzar is a kind of a shopping area, with the roads radiating in all directions from Jokan temple. Prayers arrive here finally after their long trip exceeding a month or two, with their clothing and body dirty. Yet, most of them cannot afford to stay at the hotels around the temple. I photographed those people from the roof of the temple, spending five mornings and afternoons wrapped up in a blanket. The scenery was beautiful especially in the sunset. Nomads from various places, with slightly different dialects and costumes, shared sheep skin blankets to keep themselves warm, and waited for sunrise.
On the way to Mr. Juko's home country, we reached the end of the road, where the river was all iced. We passed two cars of Beijing people, who U-turned to avoid a dangerous trip. At this altitude of 5,200m with the thin air and slippery snow, no wonder the local driver was afraid to go further. It was so cold that I couldn't even leave the car door open, because the freezing air gave me terrible headaches. Since we had no snow chain, our car stuck in snow from time to time. But even in this severe situation, we slowly proceeded.
Finally, we arrived at Mr. Juko's brother's house. He was surprised by our sudden visit, because there is no way to let him know in advance, living in an area of no telephone or mail delivery. He is a nomad who raise sheep and goats. The walls of his house were made of cow dung. Speaking of dung, the most flammable ones are collected from cows after eating grass, and autumn is the best season to collect those of high quality. Dung is even appreciated as gifts to take home from wedding parties, and gift to friends. You surely can say it's a "dung culture". At night after putting out the dung fuel light, it gets very cold. With no food to eat, we ended up eating the cup-noodles I had brought from Japan. Tsampa is a popular menu here. It is pretty much like rice, made from mixing hot water and fried rye powder, qingke(barley). They eat it with oil and butter, but I arranged it by adding sugar. When I woke up at 4:00 the next morning, there was an extravagant breakfast of sheep and beef, prepared for us by the brother's wife. The kids enjoyed the feast as much as I did. Although they have no fortune, the children are pure and innocent. In those lovable children, I saw the essence of the Tibetan life. The dog is also an important family member here, too. They stay outside of the house faithfully, minus 30 degrees Celsius, or minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter.
There were no beds for the four of us photography team, so we formed a circle with chairs as our improvised beds and slept on them. The wind continuously beat the door. Even though we used our coats and heavy blankets for army soldiers, it was too cold be able to fall asleep. Besides the freezing temperature, the headache coming from oxygen deficiency was tough for me. I ended up using an extra bottle of pocket oxygen which I was to use tomorrow.
The rule for Tibet visitors is "not to move, run, nor climb." for three days. "Not to be excited" was added especially for me, since these actions cause oxygen deficiency. It is never a joke in a region where the oxygen level is down to 60%, and it could be fatal for a person like me who gets excited easily. Here I wanted to photograph the candle-like winter sun, but without my knowing, I had forced myself into a very dangerous state, climbing up the hill. After saying farewells to the nomad family, I ended up in a hospital in Lhasa to take an intravenous drip infusion. I was told by my photograph crew that they were worried about my condition from the day before because I looked too pale, but they were unable to tell me, knowing my strong will to continue photographing. Except for this incident, this trip was one of my best trips, since I had the special privilege to step into and photograph regions where no travelers can enter. I was also able to accomplish the big theme of photographing the Tibetans' lives. I will never forget this winter I have spent in Tibet.
-Happiness Is in My Hands
Having a close look at the everyday life of the Tibetans, I was able to see the toughness and kindness which I can barely find in the city life. There would be no end in photographing the depth and enchantment of Tibet, and needless to say, I have a huge desire to keep exploring.. The next trip will be this summer, and the plan will be to visit the border of Nepal, India, and Tibet.
