Photography and Tibet

Description

Mysterious and often inaccessible, Tibet has been a source of fascination to outsiders for centuries and a troublesome and resistant subject for photographers. Even today, photography of Tibet often remains embroiled in debates about Tibet's past, present and future. This book is the first historical survey of photography in Tibet and the Himalayas. It offers a remarkable new insight into the attempts of foreign and Tibetan photographers to document the country from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. Leading Tibetologist Clare Harris combines the results of extensive research in museums and archives with fieldwork in Tibetan communities to present material that has never been seen or discussed before. Images featured in this book include the earliest photographs taken in Tibet in1863, the experimental camerawork of senior Tibetan monks, including that of the thirteenth Dalai Lama, and the creations of contemporary Tibetan photographers and artists

Clare Harris is professor of visual anthropology in the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography at the University of Oxford, curator for Asian collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum, and a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. She is the author of several books, including In the Image of Tibet, also published by Reaktion Books.

"A wonderful survey-cum-detective story about the multiple locations of Tibet, and the role of the camera in making them visible. We come to understand the heavy burden of representation in this context, and the remarkable tenacity of 'aura' when the photograph attempts to suture the wounds of exile. This a compelling and authoritative account, filled with important new materials and vivid connections, that takes us to the heart of practices caught in the crossfire of different visions of Tibet."--Christopher Pinney, professor of anthropology and visual culture, University College London "The narrative is lively and engaging with excellent reference notes, bit it is the many and varied photographs that are the main focus. As the author wryly observes, these often say more about the photographers themselves than they do about their subjects. . . . This is a highly absorbing and important book. It should appeal to the general reader but particularly to those with an interest in Tibetan history and the role of photography as a promoter of truth and artistic ability."-- "Asian Affairs" "This expansive, intricate, and virtuosic account offers a radical rethinking of photography's relationship with Tibet. Rejecting orientalist narratives of that relationship, Harris addresses the entangled political and cultural dynamics of the medium, from the colonial period to the twenty-first century, through which Tibetan culture has been understood and understands itself."--Elizabeth Edwards, Photographic History Research Centre, De Monfort University "Written in a lively and concise style, the book makes sense of an impressive array of material. . . . This tour de force is deliberately intended for the general reader interested in an up-to-date introduction to the history of the representation and reception of Tibet through photographs taken by both Westerners and Tibetans. The book will nonetheless be of benefit to the scholarly community, since it presents so-far unresearched archive material, raises important issues of colonial history and Western material and visual cultures that the case of Tibet highlights particularly well, and provides reciprocally unprecedented developments on the assimilation of the technology of photography by Tibetans up to this day."-- "Bulletin of SOAS" "Photography and Tibet brings to the fore a selection of remarkable work presented in an accessible and engaging way. This is an inspiring book from which students and researchers alike will derive great benefit, and one which also has wider resonance for historical geographers working with visual archives in very different contexts."-- "Journal of Historical Geography" "Harris's wonderful Photography and Tibet is part of the Reaktion Books Exposures series, which provides introductions to the history of photography related to specific themes and regions. Photography and Tibet accomplishes this in providing a much-needed introduction to the history of photography in Tibet and surrounding regions of the Himalayas. However, Harris gives us much more, as along with this historical overview, she reveals how the history of photography in Tibet can also be seen as the history of the way Tibet has been imagined beyond its borders by Westerners, Chinese, and others, and how this imagining has directly influenced colonial engagement with Inner Asia and the Himalayas."-- "Trans Asia Photography Review" "Photography and Tibet is a richly informative and a hugely entertaining read. . . . The bottom line--for anyone with a passion for photography or Tibet, ideally both, this is an absolute must-have book."--Jamyang Norbu "Shadow Tibet"