Help me find out about an ill remembered well known (oxymoron, I know) photograph.

July 13, 2006 9:38 AM

Help me find out about an ill remembered well known (oxymoron, I know) photograph.

This photograph is of a monastery or palace, no other structures are visible in the forground, probably in Tibet or Buhtan.

The many storied structure sits on top of a tall hill and is surounded by even taller dramatic mountains. The mountains are severe, desolate looking, no snow, and apparently little or no vegetation. It is a cloudy day but there is a break in the clouds and a beam of sunlight is catching the monastery.

The photograph is either color or B&W (in other words I don't remember,) and has been marketed as a poster.

I am looking for the photo itself, the name of the photographer, and the name of the location.

posted by leafwoman to media & arts (7 comments total)

Could it be Galen Rowell's Rainbow over the Potala Palace, Lhasa?
posted by jaimev at 10:12 AM on July 13, 2006

Here's one. No clue who or exactly where, though.

Here's another.

Those are in Tibet. This one's in Nepal.

Another one in Nepal.

I like this one. It's from here.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:19 AM on July 13, 2006

jaimev: It might well be the Potela Palace but that particular photo isn't it. Galen's shot is very tranquil, the esthetic of the one I am look9ing for is desolation-isolation-inhabitability, almost threatening, with a human foothold lit by the sun.

Kirth Gerson: none of those (too peaceful) but don't they all make you want to visit?

It is possible that I saw this photo at the Freer in D.C. and only wished it were a poster.
posted by leafwoman at 12:26 PM on July 13, 2006

Something more like this?
Somewhere back in my memory, I seem to recall a fairly impressive, and eerie black and white photo of Potala palace made back in the early-mid 20th century or so. I don't this is it, though.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:47 PM on July 13, 2006

Maybe one of these is it?
posted by Thorzdad at 12:49 PM on July 13, 2006

leafwoman, I didn't think any of them would likely be The One, but I had fun looking for it, and thought I'd share those.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:08 PM on July 13, 2006

Thorzad - eerie is a good word and now that I think about it I believe it was in a series of B&W photos from the first half of the 20th century at the Freer. By the way, my mother was a Skidmore grad.

None of those though there are some wonderful photos.

Kirth - thanks for the links, they are a treat, try googling "Taktsang" for a really great one. I would post a link but I can't get my Mac and MF to talk much.
posted by leafwoman at 2:58 PM on July 13, 2006