Raj S. Rangarajan
LEAPING MONK DANCERS BY THE SEA (France)
During a European tour demonstrating Tibetan sacred dances, monks from the Shechen Monastery in Nepal express joy at their first sight of the Atlantic Ocean at a beach in France Collection of Madhav and Patty Dhar
The Rubin Museum of Art (RMA) has on display now the photographic work of Tibetan Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard who is of French descent. The exhibition titled - The Compassionate Eye focuses on a bunch of photographs taken by Ricard during visits to the Kham region of eastern Tibet.
A creative genius who makes his camera talk Ricard has studied photography, classical music and science and has a Ph.D. in biochemistry at the Institute Pasteur. His indelible pictures – a forest of fluttering flags, a swirl of dancing monks and young monks leaping joyously at the edge of the sea – make for great poetry and a momentum that carries a certain permanency and joy.
TALL PRAYER FLAGS WITH TWO MONKS (Bhutan)
Forests of prayer flags on bamboo poles can be found throughout Bhutan -on hilltops, in wooded clearings, beside rivers, near temples, and atop mountain peaks. Printed from wooden blocks and consecrated by lamas, the flags are replaced once or twice a year by the local people - Collection of Madhav and Patty Dhar
Ricard has lived for more than thirty years in the Himalayan region and has used his camera to articulate about people, landscapes, spiritual teachers and the traditions of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan in particular and about India, in general. He is a French interpreter for the Dalai Lama and is also the author and photographer of his books Journey to Enlightenment and Monk Dancers of Tibet.
Ricard’s work will be on display till Summer this year.
[Raj S. Rangarajan is a New York based freelance writer. He covers trend stories on art, travel and lifestyles and reviews books, films and plays for media based in New York, California, Toronto, India and Australia.]
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