Interview with Pawo Choyning Dorji
Questions from Yvonne Gold
Q. Where were you born & when?
A. I was born in Darjeeling, India on the 23rd of June 1983. I am Bhutanese but now I spend most of my time between Bir, Northern India and Taipei, Taiwan.
Q. Where did you grow up and go to school?
A. My father worked as a diplomat for the Bhutanese government, so we were always on the move. Of course I spent a majority of my childhood in Bhutan but I also grew up in Switzerland, India and Kuwait. Since we were always on the move, my parents opted to send me to a boarding school to finish my high school. I graduated from Kodaikanal International School, an American boarding school in the beautiful Palini hills of Tamil Nadu, South India. Since my high school was an American school, it was natural for me to do my university studies in the US. I majored in International Relations and Political Science at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. After I graduated in 2006, I moved to Bir to be with Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.
Q. How & when did you get your 1st camera?
A. I used to use my parent’s old Nikon film camera, but I got my first digital SLR camera when I graduated from college. I guess you could say that was my first serious camera.
Q. How old were you when you started taking photo’s
A. I don’t remember, I always enjoyed taking photos, but I started being serious about it around 2006.
Q. How, why & where did you get interested in taking photo’s?
Pawo Choyning Dorji
A. I think that the world is seen differently by each individual, because each eye is unique. This is just my way of sharing my viewpoint. The way I see the world.
I also take pictures because I want to share my life with others. I do lead a very unique life; I live in a place like Bir and work for my guru. I think I am very fortunate that way…because happiness I think comes down to living a life where you do what makes you happy, and for me that is being around my guru. There are many other sangha members around the world, who probably would also like to live such lives…but they cannot because of different conditions. I take pictures and share them because I want our sangha to feel connected with our guru and his activities.
Also I travel a lot and I enjoy shooting landscape. I like to share that with friends who have not been there yet. (I don’t know if this makes sense but you go ahead and edit it and do whatever.)
Q. Do you have an idea before you shoot of what you want, or just see how it is when you’re in a place?
A. I love to shoot landscape and people. People’s faces (especially old people) are my favourite, I feel like their whole life story is written on their faces…the happy times and the times of struggle. I also shoot a lot of panorama shots, where I actually take several shots on one place in a row. I then use different software to stitch them together into a giant photo. I think this is cool because it really gives the viewer ideas of what I am seeing when I am there.
I am very open to shooting and processing techniques. I like to experiment and just see how it turns out. I shoot in HDR mode as well, that’s when a photo is shot in 3 different exposure levels and then merged together to form one photograph. Sometimes the end product looks like a painting.
Q. How / why do you go to all these places?
A. I guess it’s the life I lead. I am a Bhutanese, married to an American Taiwanese, living in a small mountain village in northern India. Following a guru who is always on the move! We just end up travelling a lot!
Q. What else would you like to do now or in the future?
A. I would like to study photography. Right now its just something that I have picked up on my own, and I think there is so much more to learn.
Q. Your photos have a huge sense of spaciousness about them, which is very inspiring for meditation. How do you achieve that? What’s your motivation in taking these images?
A. I think it just turns out like that because I am a photographer who happens to a Buddhist, and who also happens to be always hanging around meditative places! Its very unlikely I’ll be taking photos in a place like Paris or Tokyo…I am usually in places like Bodhgaya, Bhutan, or on some remote mountain top.
Instant Inspiration photo Pawo Choyning Dorji
May I become at all times, both now and forever; a protector for those without protection; a guide for those who have lost their way; a ship for those with oceans to cross; a bridge for those with rivers to cross; a sanctuary for those in danger; a lamp for those without light; a place of refuge for those who lack of shelter; and a servant to all in need” Shantideva, The Bodhicharyavatara, Chapter III, Verse 18-19
This is Pawos link which is full of wonderful photos to inspire others to travel to pilgrimage places. http://drukpakuenlay.smugmug.com/Travel/Paths
Beautiful Bodhgaya photo Pawo Choyning Dorji
