India 2026/P2 (Thiksey & Diskit monasteries)

Place: The sounds of these ‘colour spaces’, the intense experience of belief through ideas of temporariness and transition affected me greatly. Expressions of beautifully executed material culture that forms the everyday lived experience of monks challenges ideas of reverence and preservation.

A novice Buddhist monk serves the first butter tea at daybreak prayers. The pot is clearly very hot & heavy, but they attend to their task with practiced precision amongst the intense incense and chanting of “om mani padme hum” which translates to "Hail the jewel in the lotus” …