Location: Lhasa, Tibet

Subject: Unknown Woman

 
I was thinking about some of my favorite and most memorable portraits that I have created over the years, but this image of a woman in Tibet from the spring of 2009 stands out as one of my favorites. We met at the gate of the Dalai Lama’s Potala Palace in Lhasa one morning while I was out walking. She didn’t speak any English, and now that I think of it, I do not recall her speaking at all. However, through gesturing, I asked if I could take her picture, and she posed for me in the sun while holding a traditional prayer wheel.

 
I have no idea how old she was, but I am guessing she is old enough to have lived through the 1959 Tibetan Uprising, and has witnessed a lot of changes to Tibet during her lifetime.