Dalai Lama

The 14th Dalai Lama is one of the most famous personalities of our time. The exiled principal spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, one of the most distinguished scholars of his religion, enjoys global recognition and admiration. No other photographer in the world is as close to His Holiness as Manuel Bauer, whose deep interest in Buddhism and Tibet dates back more than three decades. Since 1990, Bauer has visited and traveled with the Dalai Lama many times and has captured his public appearances and events as well as his private life in thousands of atmospheric photographs.

This book features some 200 of these images, many of which are published here for the first time. They offer unique insights into the Dalai Lama’s travels and public appearances around the world as well as the media hype they cause. They also give an impression of the private side of this truly global public figure, allowing us to share some of the few moments when the Dalai Lama is alone with himself and his thoughts. A special section documents and visually explains a Kālacakra, a fascinating sand mandala ritual that the Dalai Lama held with followers in the Indian Ladakh region in 2014.

The volume is rounded out with essays contributed by Thupten Jinpa, the Dalai Lama’s longtime interpreter and a renowned Buddhist scholar, and Swiss journalist Christian Schmidt. They broaden our view of Tibetan culture and religious tradition and our understanding of the Dalai Lama’s significance.

Biographie

Manuel Bauer is a Swiss-based photographer, cinematographer, and author who has focused on Tibet since the 1990s.

The Zurich-based Gaden Phodrang Foundation of the Dalai Lama was founded in 2015 with the aim to maintain and support the tradition and institution of the Dalai Lama with regard to his religious and spiritual duties.

Rezensionen "Dalai Lama"

“Not only do I admire his profession – taking pictures. I also admire him as a human being. He is a very nice person, very sincere, very humble. I believe he possesses a very pure sort of mental attitude. This is my personal view, my personal feeling. I have known him for many years now, and he has demonstrated a profound affinity for me throughout the entire period. I consider him a true friend.

[…]

He is more than simply a professional: he is a close friend of mine. He also knows a great deal about Tibet, about the Tibetan community, and he has spent years making himself familiar with our culture. He understands Tibet comprehensively, as he does the exile community; and he knows me very well too. It is this knowledge that allows his pictures to say so much about their subjects.”

The Dalai Lama about the photographer Manuel Bauer in interview recorded in 2004 for Swiss national television corporation SRG SSR.

«Ich bewundere nicht nur seinen Beruf, das Fotografieren, ich bewundere ihn auch als Menschen. Er ist ein sehr netter Mann, aufrichtig und bescheiden. Ich denke, er hat eine ganz reine Geisteshaltung. Das ist meine persönliche Ansicht, mein persönliches Gefühl. Ich kenne ihn seit vielen Jahren, und er selbst hat mir gegenüber in all diesen Jahren eine grosse, tief empfundene Nähe gezeigt. Er ist für mich ein echter Freund.

[…]

Er ist nicht bloss professioneller Fotograf, er ist auch ein sehr guter Freund von mir. Und er weiss viel über Tibet, über die tibetische Gemeinschaft, zudem hat er sich viele Jahre lang mit dieser Kultur auseinandergesetzt. Er besitzt ein umfassendes Wissen über Tibet, die tibetische Flüchtlingsgemeinschaft und über mich. Durch dieses Hintergrundwissen können seine Bilder mehr über das Fotografierte aussagen.»

Der Dalai Lama über den Fotografen Manuel Bauer in einem 2004 für die Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft (SRG) aufgezeichneten Fernsehinterview