Guidance

It's hard to image that it is over two years since my last big trip and blog entry.

In November 2010 I was on assignment on behalf of  the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for a quick trip down to Guatemala.  A very interesting place photographing the Mayan Indians living in a very small and relatively closed community in Santiago Atitlan. 

Guatemala aside I have been Stateside doing both commercial & print related photography since my 3 month trip to Myanmar, Vietnam & Thailand.

In the summer of 2011, I was getting a lot of questions about Tibet.  No, "I hadn't been there" but making it my next trip seemed to make sense. A natural extension of my interest in Ethno-centric travel photography in Asia which I love so much.

In the same time frame time I befriended another travel photographer, Jim Spillan while at the Uptown Art Festival in Minneapolis, MN.  After returning home,  I called Jim during which time we had a marathon conversation- him telling me about Tibet & me telling him about Myanmar.  

By early November I had committed to traveling and explored a few final alternatives: "the Stans", Tibet or Mongolia.  In the same time frame I also purchased a fabulous large print of a Tibetan Woman taken by Jim.  She now hangs in my home, joining the work of many other wonderful travel images taken by my friends.

Over Thanksgiving I was sent additional guidance.  While visiting my in-laws in Ashville NC, I made a side trip to a small artist community in Blackrock NC.  In this traditional, Southern town specializing in mountain crafts I stumbled up a coral Sherpa necklace and small prayer wheel.  Both had been brought to the USA by a Tibetan Buddhist monk and were for sale in this art gallery. How curious. I bought them both.   

No question, Tibet was where I was going.

Carpe Diem,
Lorrie
www.LorrieDallekPhotography.com