Man from Eastern Tibet (Kham), who came to celebrate the return of the young Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche, considered to be the incarnation of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991), one of the greatest masters of Tibetan Buddhism. He was welcomed with the same fervor as his predecessor, who returned to Tibet in 1985 after thirty years in exile.

2894 A Tibetan from Kham province smiles benevolently. June 2010

Nine thousand people had gathered in the high valley of Shechen, at an altitude of almost 4,000 meters, to receive the blessing of Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche. Equipped with a 400mm lens, I was a long way from the man sitting in the crowd, wondering if it was really him I was aiming at and who I was.The first portrait expresses an uncertainty, a certain distance, a touch of mistrust, a questioning.After the first shutter release, I left the viewfinder of the camera and looked at him. Suddenly, the man realized that it was really him I was photographing, and what’s more, he recognized me. From a distance, he gives me this beautiful, benevolent and amused smile (2010).

3293 The Kawa Lunring peak (approx. 5000 m altitude), seen from the mountain road between Peyul and Gangdze, Eastern Tibet, June 2010. Kawa Lunring, a peak around 5000 m high, seen from the mountain road between Peyul and Gandze, Eastern Tibet, June 2010.