Drokpa: People of the Solitudes.

For over twenty years, with the help of Tibetan friends, I have been recording the lives of the Drokpa (nomads) of eastern Tibet. I am told that I am probably the only photographer of any nationality who has been doing this consistently since the year 2000. Tibet’s Drokpa, or nomads, are living examples of traditional Tibetan culture and until recently they comprised an estimated 25% to 40% of the Tibetan population. Drokpa are a mountain people, herding livestock on high altitude pastures (average altitude 14,000 feet) and living in harmony with their environment and the seasons for millennia, their self-sufficient livelihood depending heavily on the vagaries of nature and a barter economy. The nomad way of life has remained unchanged for centuries, until recently, and their traditional ecological knowledge and understanding makes them natural stewards of Tibet’s grasslands. In recent years “resettlement”, global warming and the pressure to respond to a market economy have threatened their ancient, beautiful, self-sufficient and holistic way of life. There have been many times when I felt that I was documenting and witnessing the dying of a beautiful earth-based culture.