Lha’s 4th photography course

Lha organized Photography class with generously sponsored by Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The class was taught by Ms. Orion who is a Photographer and writer who has spent the past eight years living and working in New York City, USA.

Though the Class is an intensive beginner in photography, Orion’s determination to teach and the student’s eagerness to learn made the class into worthwhile. The class started from 9th November to 11th December 2009 for ten students and the class schedule is three hours a day, five days a week, for one month. We had photo exhibition at Lha on 11th of December 2009. The photos were to be taken by the students, for an exhibit called “Life in Exile”, showing in New Delhi in spring 2010.

The class turned out to be a delightful group of people with varying backgrounds and experience with photography. And many of them wanted to learn photography to pursue projects on their own. They roamed around the narrow corridors, snapping photos of all the employees and volunteers, as well as some of their fellow students, who were bewildered at the onslaught of flashes. Orion said that their effort towards photography is very enthusiastic and within their first week their photos were turning out fantastic.

Orion said, “Unfettered by conventional rules and ideas about what photography should be, they endeavored to capture their lives as authentically as possible. They were unselfconscious in the extreme, unconcerned about the “artistic value” of their work, and eager to show me each morning the shots they’d captured the day before. Each student also has his or her individual style: some prefer taking self-portraits, some like landscapes and nature; still others enjoy snapping shots of the various types of people here.”

She also stated that the students also learned some valuable lessons on their own, particularly with taking photos of people; for instance, during their “biography” assignment, several students interviewed and photographed the very poor of McLeod, and came to know the difficult lives of beggars.Another student crashed an Indian wedding giving us the experience told through his documentary photos. One pair of monks discovered that it’s best to ask permission before taking a photo, after an elderly Tibetan grandmother gave them a piece of her mind for capturing her unawares (they also proceeded to photograph her wagging her finger at them in a vexed manner, and jokingly suggested we use it in the exhibition!)

Orion was very happy in the space of a single month of her photography class and she transformed the students from pure beginners to accomplished artists! She stated that their photos tell their poignant, humorous, and beautiful stories. She also stated that she was grateful to have learned from these people, to have seen through their eyes, changed her own perspective and from both side they continue to learn through pointing their lenses at the vast world around them and us.

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