Documentation

Much of my research is based on extensive field work and documentation done in situ. Since 1990 I have assembled a huge corpus of photographic documentation. Of this documentation, I have contributed about 25000 photographs to the Western Himalaya Archive Vienna (WHAV). Unfortunately my access to that material is unresolved.

The documentation assembled in the gallery pages of this website presents works of art from a range of sites, partly unpublished so far and partly complementing already published works. The galleries now also include the documentation previously published on my Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Art (ITBA) website.

Other Galleries

While giving access to the documentation is the main purpose of this homepage, I am also using its gallery feature to share more personal pictures, such as recent research relevant travels (◊ Travels), pictures of photogenic places relevant to my life (◊ Places), pictures I use as screen backgrounds and larger versions of the web-banners found on this site (◊ Computer). These galleries are still on Gallery3.

Travels – Mustang

The region of Lo or Mustang, in Nepal, is one of the most picturesque valleys in the Himalayas. I was lucky to be invited to go there in 2010, and am now fully in love with the region. Although much as been published about the temples and art of Mustang, there is still plenty to do to understand it better (◊ Mustang).

Places – Storm King

Visiting the Storm King Art Center, located one hour north of New York City in the Hudson Valley, in autumn is a great aesthetic experience. The large artworks are set against a backdrop of the famous New York state autumn colors. Perfect food for the camera (◊ Storm King).

Photography

When young, I was of the opinion that photography destroys the memory of a travel, therefore I first traveled without camera, including a six months journey through Asia in 1988. Only once I became interested in art, I started photography for the purpose of documentation, but soon realized that I have a good eye for framing a picture. Still, I usually only photograph when I travel, and I have a hard time photographing people unless I am specifically asked to do so. This is, of course, also reflected in the galleries on this site.

Galleries

I originally used Gallery3 for all picture galleries, but more recently moved all documentation to a Piwigo gallery. Each of these has its advantages and disadvantages, but I have not yet found a good way of integrating the galleries into my main site. Until I am able to resolve this, the gallery pages open in a separate page or tab.