Kabir Mansingh Heimsath是在拉萨多年的美国人。
他拍了许多照片，西藏的，拉萨的，白天和黑夜的……
假如，哪位朋友把这篇不长的图说翻译成中文，那就感谢啦！
Lhasa Nights
by Kabir Mansingh Heimsath
(click on the small image for full screen image with captions.)
This short series reflects my reaction to a standard photographic representation of Tibet as something static and objectively distant. By focussing on Lhasa I mean to emphasise the contemporary urban nature of a city that is too-often associated with a mysterious past. As with other cities, Lhasa provides constant and sometimes intimate contact with strangers – people who we may or may not see tomorrow – and these photos, all taken in public spaces or accessible venues, deal with that specifically urban experience. Whether tourists at the Potala (Lhasa Nights #10) or pilgrims at the Jokhang (# 11), eating dinner (# 8) or visiting night clubs (#5), life in Lhasa involves a series of interactions with people whom we do not know, and who do not know each other. The anonymity of urban interaction creates a dynamic that can be jarring for tourists who expect a postcard easiness, but it is the way of life for Tibetans in Lhasa.
Likewise, the sequence of night images intends to subvert the simplicity with which we judge a foreign place and explicitly uses darkness as a metaphor for uncertainty.New cars (#3) or an applique hat (#16) mark a visitor to the city almost as much as a fancy camera. These lives converge on the Barkhor, but each embodies a history, a culture, memories and experience that remain mutually unknown. Other lives pass discreetly (#15), intersect coincidentally for a time (# 4), separate into isolation (# 12), or perhaps even build an ongoing connection (# 13); artificial light creates a point of contact while the future recedes into darkness. Night remains indicative of the ambiguous nature of interactions in Lhasa today.
This is a visual essay and I have not included titles or captions so as not to “define” a specific image or attempt to explain the situation. The pictures certainly reflect my own experience of Lhasa, but I hope they will also serve to raise questions for others.
（http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/lhasanights/index.html）
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