Lessons From Ladakh
This is the first of a series of posts drafted while on the Lumen Dei Photo Tour of Ladakh. My hopes for the photo tour were extensive and perhaps unrealistic. I was keen to explore a number of styles of photography, from cultural portraiture to landscape panoramic. Moreover, my hope was to get some sense […]
This is the first of a series of posts drafted while on the Lumen Dei Photo Tour of Ladakh.
My hopes for the photo tour were extensive and perhaps unrealistic. I was keen to explore a number of styles of photography, from cultural portraiture to landscape panoramic. Moreover, my hope was to get some sense of how good my photography might become. With so many requests and opportunities coming in I felt like some hard decisions had to made, about how much time, effort and money to commit to image making.
Of course, all of that felt rarified and abstract as soon as I set foot in Ladakh itself; a dusty, harsh, but beguilingly beautiful region of Northern India. Acclimatising to the altitude (Leh, is over 3,500 metres and in some places we stayed at close to 5,000 metres) was even harder than adjusting to carrying so much gear (lenses, two bodies, computer, back drives, etc), or being part of a group tour for the first time in over seventeen years.
Moreover, Leh and it’s surrounding region were recently subject to a catastrophic cloudburst, with the loss at least 183 people. The aftermath of this was evident throughout our trip, from ravaged roads and homes, to dramatic rebuilding and even public figures making visits (including the Dali Lama). As I struggled with my feelings on inadequacy (my gear, photographic knowledge and software chops often felt deficient), I was also reminded constantly of the luxury of my day to day life back home.
Did I learn a lot? Yes. Was the trip worth it? Yes. Over the next couple of posts I’ll unpack some of the lessons from the trip a little more, while also showcasing a few of the locations we visited.
