24 Beautiful Photographs of Bhutan’s Monks, People and Landscapes

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Prashant Kamath, who travelled with Darter in October 2013 on our photography tour to capture the landscapes and culture of Bhutan, shares his beautiful images of the mountain country from the tour. According to Prashant, Bhutan trip was a step in a new direction for him in photographing people. He says,
[box style=”simple”][space value=”-1.1em”] “this was a fabulous trip for us and probably the most engrossing where we learnt a lot on photography. At the end of the day it was really worth it!! Hats off to you and your team for putting this together. “
[space value=”1.8em”][/box] Here is a collection of images by Prashant from the tour. Captions in italics are as provided by the photographer.

 

Chillies!!! Chilly is used as the main vegetable in a dish in Bhutan. Their national dish is Ema Datchi which translates to Chilly and Cheese curry. Rather than showing just a dish, I wanted to capture something different. The Bhutanese dry chilies outside their house (either on their roof or hanging in bunches on the sides). We were in Haa valley stopping for a quick meal. If there was one thing this photography expedition taught me, it was the value of a human element in the picture. Imagine how this would have looked without the girl at the door!!

 

This was taken at the National Memorial Chortan in Thimpu. I saw this mom with a prayer wheel in hand and her child strapped on her back. I was enamored by her constant gaze back at her child as if to see if she was doing fine. As you can see her child was more than fine happily posing for all the photographers.

 

What I wanted was to show motion. A turning wheel in the foreground and a monk walking at a distance in the background with some level of detail on the walls. It was quite bright and that created a challenge. To show a turning wheel, I had to reduce my shutter speed. Reducing my shutter speed by itself would attract too much light. I had to play with exposure compensation to get this shot and had to wait for a long time for the monk to make several rounds. Guess who had to turn the wheel in the foreground each time!!

 
One Eyed Monk. I met this monk at the National Memorial Chorten in Thimpu. He was turning a large prayer wheel with all the energy he could muster.

 

Our group started walking out of the Archery tournament grounds and towards the market. Once we reached a certain elevation, we saw some monk kids climb a wall and look down at the archery ground cheering for their team. There was something about this boy that caught my attention. He was the only one not cheering. What was on his mind.

 
I captured this touching moment at the start of our trek to the Tigers’ Nest. She was singing a lullaby to her child who was exited with all the attention he got.

 

 

This is the one hour where they get to be….just kids

 

The tree in the back signifies growth especially with these young monks in the foreground.

 

 

 

 

I wanted to capture the cook with his expressions taking in the heavy set aromas in the room.

 
This was taken in a small shed converted to an outhouse kitchen at Kitchu Lakhang in Paro, Bhutan. It was not as well lit as captured in my camera and I had to stop down to f1.8 on my lens. Once inside, you would be surrounded by wood fire smoke redolent with mixed aromas including the sweet smell of tea brewing in the kettle. I was fascinated by the boy waiting for the tea to be poured each time and then running outside to serve the monks. There was a certain harmony in action. I love the one child monk deep in thought and the other waiting for the kettle to be filled.

 

This was taken at Kichu Lhakang in Paro, Bhutan. This was a beautiful monastery from the 7th Century and was rumored to be built in a day. Technology is what brought these 2 monks together. One can be seen playing with his cell phone while the other looks on.

 
I was not prepared well for the morning shots. After waking up in the middle of the night at 2:30 AM, we climbed up a mountain and on to Dochula Pass that is 3150 meter above sea level. When you get there in the morning before sunrise, it is mostly covered with white clouds and you get spectacular views of the mighty Himalayan mountain ranges.

 
Punakha Dzong or the Palace of great happiness

 
A panoramic view of the Punakha Dzong, the old capital of Bhutan, at the confluence of Pho Chu and Mo Chu rivers

 

 

 

 

View of the Tiger’s Nest (Taktsang Monestry) located on the edge of a cliff. We had to trek few hours to get there but it was really worth it. This monastery was built in 1692 after it was believed to be the place where Guru Padmasambhava is said to have meditated in the 8th century. We were able to enter the monastery and seek blessings.

 

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