Yeshi Tshogyel, Tenchen Choeling Gatshel Buddhist Nuns College, Paro, Bhutan 2023

Yeshi Tshogyel, Tenchen Choeling Gatshel Buddhist Nuns College, Paro, Bhutan 2023In the 9th century Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) introduced Buddhism to Bhutan, accompanied by his consort, the great and miraculous dakini Yeshi Tshogyel. Yeshi turned herself into a pregnant flying tigress and Guru Rinpoche rode on her back to the Tiger's Nest Cave on the cliffs high above Paro Valley. While photographing the students of the 14th century Tenchen Choeling Gatshel Buddhist Nuns College across the Paro Valley from the Tiger's Nest, I

In the 9th century Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) introduced Buddhism to Bhutan, accompanied by his consort, the great and miraculous dakini Yeshi Tshogyel. Yeshi turned herself into a pregnant flying tigress and Guru Rinpoche rode on her back to the Tiger's Nest Cave on the cliffs high above Paro Valley.

While photographing the students of the 14th-century Tenchen Choeling Gatshel Buddhist Nuns College across the Paro Valley from the Tiger's Nest, I met another Yeshi Tshogyel. She is second from left in this photo with her friend, Lheki Tshomo, holding her arm. The light was beautiful as I posed the young women on the temple stairs, but they were nervous and tense. Living cloistered lives for years without cameras or cell phones, they weren't accustomed to being photographed. I took out my notebook, made a sketch of the composition, and asked for their names. When I got to the second nun and she told me her name was Yeshi Tshogyel, I replied, "Yeshi Tshogyel! Yeshi Tshogyel! You must be Guru Rinpoche's girlfriend!" That cracked them up and I got the photo I wanted.

PHOTO PRINTS
Prints are on Hahnemuhle heavyweight (315 gsm) 100% archival cotton “Photo Rag Baryta” paper, using archival inks and archival spray coating. They have a 200-year life expectancy before any deterioration of the print will be observed when stored, handled, and displayed under archival conditions.

CANVAS PRINTS
What is often called “Gallery Wrap Canvas” is a fine art inkjet (Giclee) print on canvas, with printed edges to wrap around a wooden stretcher frame, like a painting. With canvas prints, your print image is still the same size, but given a "wrap effect" around the edges to account for the thickness of the stretcher. Canvas can be rolled and shipped with no effect to the print. Your local framing shop should be able to mount the canvas to stretchers at a fraction of the cost of traditional framing, making for an overall more economical way to get fine art on your wall. The canvas is printed to wrap around a 1-inch stretcher (1.5 inches on larger sizes). Specifications will be provided with your order. Feel free to contact us if you need guidance with your canvas order.

John prints, titles, dates, and signs all of his photos.

CUSTOM ORDERS: For custom orders of prints shipped flat, framed, or as stretched canvas, contact [email protected]