Editor’s note:
It’s always a good moment when talking with photographers about Tibet. They may be an inexperienced student, a prim official, or greedy entrepreneur, but they suddenly reincarnate as a new person, in many cases romantic poets, masters of parallelism sentences, and eloquent speakers, when the word Tibet is mentioned.
Tibet impresses photographers not only for its beauty, broadness, mystery and clean environment, but also they start to see themselves in a new way and realize something so important but long neglected – the freedom of soul.
"Life could be simple.” “I feel like purified.” “I regain peace of mind.” No matter whom you are talking to, those are similar expressions you are certain to get and people, rich and poor, appear to be as innocent as when they were born into this world.
Some photographers worry if the economic development and tourism may threaten Tibet’s unique cultural and religious traditions. Some criticize a laughable hypocrisy to leave Tibet underdeveloped, poor and Tibetans struggling against the hard environment just to maintain their cultural identity that leaves visitors mostly entertained or pleasantly shocked.
Photos of ten photographers we present here are far from picturing a real, evolving Tibet. Like one photographer confessed, they are like the outsiders and it takes more than one trip to understand the texture of Tibet.
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Mei Duo summarizes her impression of Tibet straightly as sacred, lofty, magical, broad, and religious. |
"I'm an idealist. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way." When you open the online photo archive of Tracy Jacks, this is the second thing you may remember besides Tibet photos. |
"My love for Tibet has greatly inspired my curiosity in photography, empowered me with the courage to work hard and face loneliness, and also drove me to pursue more achievements," Shen Jing wrote.
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Yang Jianghua didn’t say much about of his travels in Tibet expect that he felt “purified” through the trip last year. |
Tibet appears to be surreal and a new world to photographer Hu Zi and maintains a rare, valuable sense of purity despite the bustling commercial development in some places. |
When I see those pilgrims, some of them disabled, worshiping on the road despite the unimaginable difficulties, a feeling of respect and awe rose from the bottom of my heart, photography fan Yantufengjing said. |
Shuidongqing, who declines to give her real name, writes on her photo blog that she enjoys the process of understanding life by traveling, sometimes feels happy for a blooming flower and sad for a falling leaf. |
Eight months have passed since Cao Xiangyang visited Tibet for the first time, in September 2010, but the spectacular nature scenes are still alive for him. |
Ding Lianghe and his three friends drove to Tibet from Lianyungang in East China's Jiangsu province in July 2008. He said the Tibetans left a deep impression on him with their religious beliefs, diligence, kindness and unique traditions. |
As a Han Chinese photographer, he preferred to be called Jambhala, a Tibetan name he received from his Tibetan Buddhism master and also God of Wealth.
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Special Coverage: Tibet |