Friday, December 12, 2008

New Roads


Most folks who are at all serious about photography will tell you that the camera can be a tool of great discovery, so spooky an instrument that I sometimes wonder: Who is in charge here? Who's the Decider Man?

I know it'll sound kind of hocus-pocus, but there are times when I have some Life Mystery in my head and, lo and behold, my camera helps me find my way to Insight. More often, it seems like my magic, all-seeing optical box supplies a visual answer, about 1/60th of a second before I even knew there was a question.

Many photographers will also, when pressed, admit to hearing voices. Our cameras push us out the door, whispering words in our ears that no one else can hear: “Dude, there are roads out there. Let’s go follow them.”

I guess it was Yogi Berra who said: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
I can't speak for other folks with a Photographic Habit, but I can tell you that in my case, Camera and I surely seem to be following Yogi's advice.

A year ago Leah and I trekked in the Himalaya of Nepal. We were charmed by the friendly and warm Nepali people, yet we were also curious about the the quiet and mysterious Tibetan refugees who had come over the border into Nepal, fleeing, we were told, the Chinese who now occupy the Tibetans’ homeland.

Upon returning to the Seattle area, I learned that there is a small Nepali and Tibetan community here, and I have since made some new friends. One man I’ve met was born in Tibet but his family fled to India when he was two. My new friend is sometimes asked to speak about the Tibet/China issue; he asked me last week if I’d do some portraits he might be able to supply to the organizations that book him for talks. I was eager and excited to do those photographs.

My friend told me about his involvement in the local Tibetan Buddhist community. Because one road leads to another -- and because I’m a curious fellow -- I hope to learn more about this historic and now displaced culture, taking root here in the American Northwest.

I see a fork in the road. Camera and I think we'll take it.