VANISHING TIBET

'Over the past ten years photographers Danny Conant and Catherine Steinmann made several journeys to Tibet intending to experience firsthand the magical quality that draws pilgrims the world over to this land of deep spirituality and immeasurable beauty. Instead, to their infinite dismay, they discovered a Tibet whose soul is gradually disappearing. The loss is pervasive - cultural, environmental, economic, religious - and seemingly inexorable.' 'Vanishing Tibet is about the recent changes that have befallen this captive land. A massive influx of Chinese immigrants, arriving via the newly constructed Beijing-Lhasa Railway, has quickly displaced many city-dwellers from their very homes and jobs. The countryside has also suffered: rampant deforestation, unregulated mining, and poorly planned farming have exacted a terrible toll on Tibet's delicate ecosystem.' 'Through their photographs, Conant and Steinmann seek to record this disappearing culture - yet their work transcends simple documentation. The artists developed stunningly creative and innovative techniques that meaningfully relate medium to subject matter; for example, images of religious life are transferred to metal and molded into the shape of Tibetan prayer wheels, images of the land and people are printed on Asian paper and hung like Tibetan prayer flags, images of monastery offering candles glow after being dipped into an encaustic wax, and, in an invocation of the Tibetan tangka, photo montages are transferred to scrolls of painted fabric. These inventive techniques not only dramatically underscore the context of the images, they also produce gorgeously nuanced works of art that pay homage to a vanishing Tibet.'--BOOK JACKET.