Lo Manthang, Nepal 2017The Forbidden Kingdom of Lo
The Story
I wanted to shoot this story for as long as I can remember. Inspired by movies like Samsara, Himalaya or Kundun, stories of tibetan mystics always attracted me. The story is about young monk, who's travelling across harsh Himalayan valleys and passes before he reaches forbidden kingdom, accessible only to those, whose minds are clean and hearts pure. To shoot this project I travelled with my friend/assistant/camera operator to extremely remote kingdom Lo Manthang in northern Nepal. Five days in jeep on roads that weren’t really roads, air so thin we couldn’t really breathe and villages that looked like from ages long gone.
Lo Manthang is an ancient medieval fortress at about 5000m above sea level, with narrow streets, houses made of mud and prayer flags everywhere. There are cows roaming narrow pathways and no internet connection whatsoever. We only had two days on locations to shoot, then we had to head back because our permit for restricted area expired. The greatest single challenge there was to negotiate with head of local monastery. We needed access to temples and monasteries that aren't open for public and local monks as models. We succeeded.
I could take only very minimal setup with me, so all my imags are created using combination of natural light (usually just after sunset) and small strobes with orange gels. There were also candles on some of the photos and plenty of smoke from burning incense everywhere.
The Process
One of the greatest challenges when shooting abroad is always finding a good fixer. That’s someone who helps me talk to local people, produce, arrange and sometimes be my assistant. It could be local guide, school teacher or aspiring photographer.
Upper Mustang is a restricted area, where you need to obtain permit from Nepalese government. Getting it is nor easy nor cheap and it’s only valid for ten days. One-way trip by jeep takes four days. That left us with only two days on location. Not really enough.
There are three ancient temples and monasteries in Lo Manthang. One is currently being under restoration, one is closed to public and the last one is quite ordinary. So we went for the one that’s closed for public.
Coming to Lo Manthang feels like going back in time. There is no internet connection, no roads and also no electricity for most of the days. Roads are made from stones and mud, houses are built from stones and mud and people are one of most beautiful you’d ever meet anywere in the world.
I didn’t have too much say over selection of models, they were picked by head of local monastery for us. But to my surprise we got to shoot high lama, one of the highest dignitaries in local pantheon. What a treat.
As difficult as this shoot was, both on production and physical level I want nothing more than to go back to Lo Manthang once again. There are so many stories left to be told…
Behind The Scenes Video
Forbidden Kingdom of Lo
The age-long goal of wanderers, fools and dreamers. A land shrouded in mystery, where people still lead the right and wise lives. The journey there is full of perils. Vast desolate plains are followed by the treacherous cols of the Himalaya. Head spins in constant dizziness form the thin air, and sleep… seldom comes. Dreams are pushed away by endless swirling images from lives of people… people who lived, people who died and some people who were never born.
When the weary and anguished traveller finally reaches walls of the forbidden kingdom, the real journey has just begun. There is no gate to greet the outsiders, only a small, obscured door. It opens rarely, only to those the kingdom itself deems worthy. Only one traveller in a lifetime may enter, sometimes not even one.
Nobody knows what awaits pilgrims who passed beyond the walls of the mysterious city. Naught but whispers of whispers reached the outside world. Whatever wonder lies hidden within, it must be extraordinary.
