Wow, the first comment is that after 30 trips to India why I have I never been to Bhutan before? its an amazing experience the people are so welcoming and the landed to wonderful. just to take a walk through the small paths leading from on village to another you will find yourself distracted – being invited in for a cup of local tea and even something to eat. I had with me a small group from my Abercrombie & Kent photography tour so after a few days on my own we set off to explore this Kingdom.
We were very lucky in many respects as the Royal Wedding was taking place during our visit which meant that a great deal of the buildings were in topcondition, flags everywhere and the people in joyful mood.
We visited the festival and Thimphu and Gangtey, and i must say the Gangtey festival was totally out of this world, after a long 6 hour drive up into the mountains above the Wangdue Valley and the weather closing in, we were rewarded by a unique 2hours where we could walk around totally unhindered shooting close to our subjects.
Before I left Paro I was given a small book by a man T. Sangay Wangchuk, called ‘Seeing with your third eye’ – a view into a life in rural Bhutan when I travel I like to read books by local writers it enable me to get an insight in to a way of life, helps me understand what I am trying to photograph.
Here are a few pictures from the Gangtey festival.
All these picture’s are taken on the Nikon D3x with a 35mm f1.4mm lens at 100 asa.
This shot below is shot on my iphone using the Hipstamatic app, the quality is fantastic and brings something totally different to a set of images.
As I like to carry the minimum amount a gear when walking around a situation like a festival the iphone is a great tool.
Shots at the end of a day can also be very important, we were the last to leave catching people get back to normal after the mad crush of a full day. the amazing thing about working here is that nobody was bothered with us working around them. This is an intense religious festival and one must keep that in mind which is very hard to do when presented with all this colour.
For me my work is all about access and getting to places were others cant get, so getting in to the area where the dancers prepare is essential. This is something that takes time, my guide spent two days getting the relevant permissions for me to shoot inside this small area. Its a situation that can not be overused get in do the pictures move around so people don’t really notice you are there and then leave. Go back the next day or later that same day.
After the festival we carried on our journey, and to give an example of how flexible one must be whilst shooting a story our driver had mentioned that sometimes the young monks leave the small town and go swimming in the river so off we walked and sure enough here they were.
This picture was taken just after dawn at a nunnery high in the hills and we had wanted to shoot the mist in the valley beneath, which actually proved to be less interesting than the girls who made us tea and let us shoot unhindered for about three hours. This is just what Bhutan is like all the best laid plans go out the window because these people are so friendly. For me nowhere has provided such an interesting and fruitful trip as this first of many to Bhutan.
I am due to go back with another group in the Spring and then again in the Autumn. All details are available through the A&K website, click the short link below.
