Praful Rao: Of Monasteries & Men

Photograph © Praful Rao-All Rights Reserved
I had the pleasure of meeting Praful Rao in Thimpu, Bhutan which he was visiting at the same time I was there. Praful is a self taught photographer whose passion for photography spans his lifetime. He describes himself as a generalist, choosing to capture whatever catches his eye or creating photographs from impromptu themes conjured in his mind. While most of his photography is of people and nature, he has also gotten involved in minimalism, still life and still enjoys doing B&W work.

Here's a lovely multimedia slideshow: Of Monasteries & Men produced by Praful. Some of the photographs are of the enthronement ceremony of the third reincarnation of Domo Geshe Rimpoche, in Tharpacholing Gompa in Kalimpong (a part of the district of Darjeeling in West Bengal). Following the ceremony, the young lama was whisked away to Mysore for further theological studies. Some photographs were also made at the Tongsa Gompa, the oldest Buddhist monastery in Kalimpong, and others are of Bhutan. I particularly liked the above image for its shadows and saturated color...a compelling composition by Praful.

Praful tells me that the background music is by a young Nepali flautist, called Manose Singh. The track was traded for a photograph by Praful that'll be featured on the artist's forthcoming album.

An earlier post on Praful Rao and his photography was published by TTP here (link).