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". . . Do You have a Dalai Lama Picture?"
It was a clear and cold early morning in Lhasa, I was photographing at the base of the Potala Palace. I took a long time composing the picture to make a perfect shot. After making the exposure, I looked up, and saw a young monk of maybe 17 years old; he was watching me. He bowed, smiled, and approached me.
"I'm Pala. What is your name?" the young monk spoke to me in surprisingly good English. "I have been watching you since the sun came over the mountain. You are a patient man to wait for so long in a cold morning for the light. The other visitors who come to the Potala take quick pictures and run away."
I bowed him and replied, "That beautiful light is the secret of a truly great picture."
He smiled and nodded his head in agreement. Then softly he said,
"You have come here to help the Tibetan people."
"What? I am only a photographer, what can I do?" I replied.
"It is what you see in your heart that has brought you here. That is where your answer lies." He said, then asked me,
"Do You have a Dalai Lama Picture?"
This question made me aware how important he still is in Tibet. Fortunately, while in Nepal, on the advise of my guide, I had purchased some wallet sized portraits of him, wearing prescription dark glasses. I handed the picture to him. He placed it on the top of his shaven head, and bowed many times. He was chanting the words, DALAI LAMA DALAI LAMA... I had heard that pictures of him were more valuable than gold in Tibet. His actions gave me a real sense of the people's devotion to the Dalai Lama. He thanked me, bowed again, then turned and climbed the thousand steps of the Potala. I thought this must be called Deja-vu, or I was having hallucinations because of the 11,800 foot altitude. Words can't describe my feeling at that moment. The idea of the poster had started to grow. Pala had planted the seed.
From dawn to dusk we kept pursuing the light searching for beautiful images of Tibet everyday. During the shoot, suddenly, I realized what I could do to help. To create a beautiful poster of the Dalai Lama that could be sold to his millions of followers worldwide to raise money for the Tibetans living in refugee camps in India and Nepal. It was like a lighting bolt, the entire image of the poster became crystal clear to me: I envisioned the Dalai Lama looking straight at me from over the Potala. Behind him was the snow capped Himalayas with storm clouds and almost overpowering rainbow, showing the peace and beauty of Tibet. When my vision reached his smiling face, I realized what was missing in the portrait I had seen. I dug out the picture from my jacket pocket to ensure my thought. There he was wearing dark glasses, that broke up eye contact between he and I. I suddenly understood I needed a photograph of him without his glasses, with no barriers between us. I wanted to photograph him. Listening to my idea, my guide and my associate thought that the altitude had gotten to me for sure. They insisted I could not get access to him. It would be like getting an audience with the Pope. The guide said, even if I could, he would never take off his glasses for the official portrait because his people were accustomed to seeing him with glasses. However, my vision was so strong, and it seemed to have taken on a life its own. I felt like the vision's assistant. I believed it would happen.
After I returned to my studio in New York, I started to create the photo composition but without the Dalai Lama in it. I contacted the office of Tibet in New York, and I explained the image and concept for the poster to Rin Chin De Harlo who is the Dalai Lama's representative in New York. He loved the idea for the poster, which I had entitled ZONE OF PEACE. He made an arrangement for a portrait sitting by sending faxes to India, since the Dalai Lama was coming to America in three weeks. It was easy to make the arrangement so far. There were, however three conditions, Rin Chin said, I must go to Los Angeles to make the picture; I could only have 30 minutes for the official sitting; I must not ask him to remove his glasses...
My heart sank. I couldn't believe it. My guide was right. My luck had just run out. I couldn't give up. "Keep moving forward." I said to myself.
This was the moment I had pictured in Lhasa.
I left the following week for Los Angels to prepare for the sitting. The morning of the sitting, my friend Ken Marcus, the former Playboy magazine photographer, volunteered to set up the lighting. In Santa Monica, at the residence of Fred Seagel, one of the Dalai Lama's supporters, we made a studio out of his living room. We removed all of the furniture and set up studio lights. Now, three new problems cropped up; first of all, a Canadian TV crew, unknown to me, had been given permission to record this photo session. Those five technicians added to the mounting pressure. Secondly, 30 excited Tibetan monks from all of America showed up to see His Holiness. Some of them had waited for this opportunity all of their life. They were all talking in Tibetan, and walking around the room. So much for the private photo sitting, I felt as if I were losing control of the situation. We all waited for His Holiness to arrive. Rin Chin arrived and apologized to me, since I would have only five minutes to shoot with His Holiness as they were behind schedule. His Holiness had to go to the beach to be interviewed by Barbara Walters from ABC Television. For the first time I thought, "I hate her." My fear of failure was starting to overwhelm me.
Suddenly, the room became silent. Every one of the monks stopped talking, started bowing, then backed against the walls. His Holiness had walked in behind us. I bowed. Ken bowed. His Holiness bowed, smiled and shook hands with us.
"What would like me to do?" He said.
"Please sit on that stool. Your Holiness." I replied.
The nervous tension from the monks was overwhelming. To break the ice, I said,
"I am going to take a Polaroid picture of you to check the lighting. It will take one minute, Your Holiness."
I shot the Polaroid. While it was developing, I asked him,
"Have you seen the composition I put together for this poster?"
"Yes, I think you should have someone more handsome than I. You would sell more posters." He made us laugh.
The Polaroid was perfect, so I handed it to him. He looked at it and said, "You made a very nice picture."
I replied, "If you like it, you can use it on your driver's license for identification." And we both broke up laughing.
Then he said,"I don't even have a car. Let me think. Do I know how to drive? I don't think so. Maybe the world is safer this way. "The entire room was in hysterical laughter at this point. He seemed to enjoy joking around, and not being taken too seriously.
Bang! The vision hit me again. This was the moment I had pictured in Lhasa.
"Your Holiness, could you please remove your glasses? I have a bright white reflection in the dark lenses."
I could feel Rin Chin's hot breath on the back of my neck whispering, "No, No..", and the air was filled with 30 monks' recoiling with tension and sudden fear at my request.
"I am sorry, Mr. Don Carroll. I am ruining your picture." His Holiness replied, and his hands proceeded to remove the glasses. I almost peed in my pants with excitement.
"Thank you, Your Holiness. Now, your people can look into your eyes." I said.
He smiled and said,
"But I can see their eyes better with my glasses on."
Again, he made all of us laugh.
Two rolls of film were shot in rapid succession. All of a sudden, Rin Chin announced that they must leave. I glanced at my watch, less than eight minutes had gone by since we started shooting. I didn't want this to stop. It had been magic! However, it was over.
"Mr. Don Carroll, I enjoyed this very much. Thank you for your kindness in helping our people." His Holiness said.
I bowed to him, and said, "Thank you for cooperation and time, Your Holiness. I am sure the poster will be beautiful."
Then he looked at Ken and said,
"Mr. Ken Marcus, Thank You. What kind of photos do you make?"
"Nature pictures, Your Holiness. Nature Pictures..." Ken replied.
I laughed.
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The seed finally bared fruit in November of 1989. All of the collective elements were combined in New York on a Paint Box imaging computer system, with help of my partner Vince Fiorello of Access Images. The type design was donated by John and Fran Melo of Zephyr Communication. 10,000 posters were printed and distributed worldwide to raise funds for the Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal. The poster was made just prior to his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
I trust that the results would please Pala, the young monk in Tibet. I hope, some day, he will have an opportunity to have this poster.
Copyright ©1989 Don Carroll. All rights reserved.
Concept Images (702) 437-1614
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This image is very close to my heart. It is the core of my personal efforts to aid the Tibetan refugees. From the time that I was very young, I always had this feeling deep inside that there was this mystical place that I had to go see. In my mind, I could picture it very clearly though I didn't know its name. In 1987, it became clear to me; that place was Tibet. In October of 1988, I took a guide and an associate, Jay Donohue, and flew to Tibet through Nepal. This is the story behind the poster.