Bhutan : Through the Lens of the King

KING WITH A CAMERA

Name of the Book: Bhutan : Through the Lens of the King

Publisher: Roli Books

Pages 176

Price: Rs 1,495

Change has come to Bhutan. There can be no greater evidence of it than a book of photographs taken by the king himself and published with introductions by two Indian writers, Pavan K. Varma and Malvika Singh. The remote mountain nation, closed to outsiders for so long, once existed in the mind wreathed in clouds and circled by dragons. But in little more than a decade, television and the internet have been introduced, tourists have been allowed in, and from 2006, the aloof kingdom was turned into a constitutional monarchy, complete with parliament and elections. Bhutan is now open to being viewed and known and documented, to a more democratic relationship with its viewers. To the outside world, it has emerged from the mythical realm of Shangri-La to become a living, breathing country.

In Bhutan: Through the Lens of the King, the current monarch, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, documents different aspects of the country through his camera. Some images are familiar to viewers already — vast sweeps of land and mountains rearing up in fantastic shapes; old forts or dzongs of whitewashed stone with exquisite detail around the doors and parapets; landscapes that could be dreamscapes of preternatural beauty. Others let you in to a different Bhutan — corn cobs that crowd the roof of a house, a kitchen with an earthen stove where the family gathers for warmth, a man pouring out wine from the traditional hollow horn, students playing football. Jigme Wangchuck visits isolated rural communities and tries to capture a way of life. Flora and fauna also find a place in this album — the gnarled bark of a cypress, the national tree of Bhutan, is seen in close-up, blue sheep streak up a hillside filled with scarlet flowers. Some pictures are more sombre, as the king visits villages ravaged by fires and other natural disasters.

Although the photographer has stunning raw material to work with, most of the pictures might be of historical rather than artistic interest — that is, if the hagiographic captions are ignored. Images of a country on the cusp of change, taken by its king, perhaps have an element of nation-making in them. Bhutan constructs its own modernity as it tells of itself to the world.

On the left is a weaver from Khoma village who sits with her child on her back. A large house, called a nagtsang, shows the trademark architecture of Bhutan (top middle). The house, in the village of Khengkar, once belonged to the “power lord” of the region. Meanwhile, the right hand of a Guru Rimpoche statue wields a thunderbolt (top right). The Angry Sparrow Peak, which rises to 6,900 metres, is home to the snow leopard and blue sheep (bottom right). The lake in the valley below supplies water to the town of Paro.

IPSITA CHAKRAVARTY

Published on December 09, 2011

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111202/jsp/opinion/story_14824208.jsp