These people live at high altitude.
American photographer Phil Borges (Phil Borges) travels the world and takes pictures of representatives of various indigenous peoples that he encountered. For example, in the photos, which you now see depicted the people of Tibet.
1. Jigme, 8 years old, and Sonam, 18 months. Ladakh, Tibet.
Jigme and Sonam — sisters from a family of nomads who had just come down from the Himalayas to their winter camp, located on the Tibetan plateau at an altitude of 5000 m above sea level. When I showed Jigme her portrait on Polaroid picture, she screamed and ran into the tent. I realized that she first saw myself from the outside, because in her family there is no mirror.
2. Yama, 8 years old. Lhasa.
Pit, her parents and three sisters travelled from the province of Kham on pilgrimage for 6 weeks in Lhasa, the Jokhang temple. “Most of the way Yama helped carry our 10 month old daughter, says her father. — She is from a very early age seeks to help others.”
3. Pusung, 64 years old, and Dondup, 32. Puga Valley, Ladakh.
Pusung and Dondup — father and son. I got to their camp at the altitude of 5200 m above sea level in December, very cold and windy day. They had just finished praying and was preparing to sacrifice two yaks in the name of a hearty winter. It was quite a primitive rite. It seemed that this scene could have happened two hundred years ago in the North American prairies.
4. Tseten, 81. Choglamsar, Ladakh.
Cetanu was almost fifty when he selected a large herd of goats and yaks and he was forced to leave Tibet. He’s one of two thousand Tibetans living in a refugee camp near Choglamsar in Ladakh. Here he has only one goat and a small plot of land on which he grows vegetables.
“I am a Buddhist, and therefore unable to be happy anywhere,” says Tseten.
5. The shelo, 20 years, and Banba, 17 years old. Nyalam, Tibet.
The shelo and Benba — best friends since childhood. They work as maids at a hotel in Nyalam, an ancient Tibetan village, which became a transit point for climbers on the way to Everest.
6. Dolma, 38 years. Chantang, Ladakh.
Dolma had never met Western people. She was reaching out to me, touched my shoulder and quickly pulls the hand, hid it under his cloak and laughed. A young girl, she fled through the Tibetan-Indian border along with his family after there was a rumor that the residents of their nomadic camps, forced to live in the commune.
7. Dorsum, 44. Lake TSO Morari, Ladakh.
Dorsum remembers, as a boy fled Tibet with his family. Moving at night and hiding by day, they are for more than twenty days crossed the border in Ladakh. During the severe frost at an altitude of over 5000 m died his younger brother. Northum says that the place where he now has to live, much more severe than his homeland.
8. Lobsang, 67 years old, and Tenzin 13 years. Bodhnath, Nepal.
Lobsang, along with 66 other monks were arrested in 1959. He was released from prison only after 21 years and was one of the three survivors. His best friend died in prison right in his arms. When Lobsang met Tenzin, he recognized him as the reincarnation of his friend. Lobsang says that he sees in this young man the traits of a deceased old friend.
9. CESIM, 79 years old, and the Deck 72. Dharamsala, India.
CESIM and Decks are old friends. They were among the 100,000 Tibetans who fled from Tibet in 1959 along with the Dalai Lama. Deck husband was killed during the uprising, but she was able to take his five children. Since then, Decks have settled in Dharamsala, close to Dalai Lama and the seat of the government of Tibet in exile.
10. Pemba, 4 years. Trak-The Current Odds.
Pemba came to the village of Trak Tok with her mother and sister for a dance festival on a Sunny but frosty December day. It caught my attention because they were totally absorbed by the spectacle. It seemed that during the ceremony she never moved, despite the bitterly cold wind.
11. Camden, 72. Ganden Monastery, Tibet.
Samden came to Ganden (one of the largest Tibetan monasteries, universities) 12. During the cultural revolution, Ganden was completely destroyed, as other 6200 Tibetan monasteries, of which only 11 survived.
Camden was then 44 years old. He is now 72 and he still lives in this restored monastery.
