Entering the Himalayas

Entering the Himalayas

This image is taken from a collection of work titled ‘Journey into the Pure Lands’. These images were taken in the winter of 2003 during a four week trek through the Nepal Himalayas Everest region. We climbed as far as Gokyo, reaching 5500m above sea level. I undertook this journey for a number of reasons. That year had been difficult and had involved loss, at this point in my life I felt that I had nothing to lose but to take up the challenge of trekking a mountain in Nepal. I had always dreamed of doing this, not only for the landscape, but also so I could draw near to the heart of Tibetan Buddhism, something that has influenced my life for a long time. I was not sure what I wanted to find, maybe a challenge to revitalize my life, or to give myself time and space to find some clarity. What I did find was one hell of a challenge! The struggles caused by temperatures dropping as low as -15 and the impact of high altitude really helped me put into perspective some of the emotional adversity I had experienced. The richness and mysticism was a photographers dream, but most of all I was inspired by the peace, humour and great strength I found amongst the Tibetan and Nepalese people despite the adversity they had faced. There was a sense of space and clarity, not just in the landscape, but also amongst many of whom we met. At the end of a hard days trekking the clouds would gather beneath us forming a white blanket almost real enough to walk on. I could describe it as nothing less than the pure lands depicted within Buddhist imagery.

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