NICHOLAS VREELAND: A Monks Journal Preparing for HH Dalai Lama Visit

 Little Ones Study

Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland

 

 Manooj's Painting Team
Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland

 Tashi Milks and Cares for Our Buffalo

Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland

 

 

Monks Polishing

 Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland

Workman, Studio Portrait

Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland
 

Workmen

 Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland

 The Monks of Rato Monastery, Mundgod, Karnataka, India

 Photographer Nicholas Vreeland (2nd row, center)

"Here we prepare for a visit from His Holiness. All hands are on deck." Buddhist monk and Photographer, Nicholas Vreeland, is the Abbot of Rato Monastery, Mundgod, India. Read more about Vreeland in the Washington Post here.

Robert Delpire selected twenty black and white Fine Art photographs by Nicholas Vreeland taken over the 24 years he has been a Rato monk. Each image, signed and numbered, is part of a limited edition of 25 that are on sale to raise money to support Rato Monastery. Purchase 'Photos For Rato' online here

NICHOLAS VREELAND: A Monk's Journal Tuscany + India Enthronement

Khyongla Rato Rinpoche in Tuscany
Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland

In June, Khyongla Rato Rinpoche and Photographer + Buddhist Monk, Nicholas Vreeland, were visiting friends in Tuscany before heading to Milan where they attended Teachings from HH the Dalai Lama. Rinpoche then headed back to America and Vreeland proceeded to India to assume his new position as Abbott of Rato Monastery.

Early morning, Nicholas being led to the Abbot's quarters
Rato Monastery, Karnataka, India, July 2, 2012

Khen Rinpoche Nicholas Vreeland
Enthronement Ceremony, July 2, 2012
Rato Monastery, Karnataka, India

The Washington Post
Dalai Lama taps American to
Bridge East and West at Tibetan Monastery
By Kim Lawton. Published: June 26, 2012

"The Dalai Lama has given Nicholas Vreeland, Director of The Tibet Center in New York, a daunting new assignment. On July 2, Vreeland will be enthroned as the new abbot of Rato Monastery in southern India, one of the most important monasteries in Tibetan Buddhism. He will be the first Westerner to hold such a position. In making the appointment, the Dalai Lama told Vreeland, “Your special duty (is) to bridge Tibetan tradition and (the) Western world.”

"For many observers, the choice of an American for the role may be a surprising one, and perhaps even more surprising given the background of this particular American. Vreeland had a privileged upbringing — the son of a U.S. diplomat and the grandson of Diana Vreeland, the legendary editor of Vogue magazine during the 1960s. When he first encountered Tibetan Buddhism in his 20s, he was working as a photographer in some of the industry’s top studios." (Read full story here)

The Leica Camera Blog
Nicholas Vreeland Capturing Photographs
to Honor and Preserve His World

"...was educated in Europe, North Africa and the United States. He later pursued a career in photography and in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s worked as an assistant to Irving Penn and Richard Avedon. Vreeland was introduced to his teacher, Khyongla Rato Rinpoche and The Tibet Center in New York by John and Elizabeth Avedon. After many years of study, he went to India to become a monk in 1985 and was awarded a Geshe Degree (Doctorate of Divinity) in 1998." (Read the full story here)

"The first solo exhibition of Vreeland’s work, Return to the Roof of the World, was held at the Leica Gallery in New York from April 22nd to June 4th of 2011. Just this July, Vreeland was appointed Abbot of Rato Dratsang by the Dalai Lama. He’s the first Westerner appointed Abbot of a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery with the task to help bridge East and West." And we wish him well! (Read the full story here)

Le Journal de la Photographie: Nicholas Vreeland

August Update: Vreeland with Rato Monastery's new vehicle.

THE LEICA CAMERA BLOG: An Interview With Nicholas Vreeland

The Nechung Medium and Dog, Dharamsala, India, 1979
Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland

Q: The Oskar Barnack Room contains five very large color portraits from the 1970’s that you shot with a 5×7 camera. Can you tell us something about your experience with the large format?

A: I went to India with an old wooden 5×7 view camera and a lot of sheets of black and white film. A friend insisted that I take along some color sheets as well. At each sitting, I’d expose a sheet or two of color and the color turned out to be magnificent. Shooting in large format established a very different rapport between my subjects and myself. I was photographing some of the greatest living Tibetan Buddhist masters. The slow formal quality of the view camera process helped me to photograph them respectfully.– from the LEICA CAMERA BLOG Interview

Nicholas Vreeland and Elizabeth Avedon, Bodh Gaya, India, 1985
Photograph (c) All Rights Reserved

"In terms of my work as a monk-photographer, I feel that I’m photographing the extraordinary world in which I live, whether I’m in New York City, in my teacher’s home in New Jersey, my monastery India or in Tibet." – from the LEICA CAMERA BLOG Interview

Vreeland on the way to his Leica Gallery exhibition, NYC, 2011.
Photograph (c) Elizabeth Paul

Self Portrait, Rato Monastery, India
Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland

Q: ...your images transcend those of a typical travel photographer: they have a dimension, a spiritual dimension, and a sense of congruity because they represent the two parts of your life that are tied together?

A: They are two sides of my life that have begun to be brought into harmony with each other. Many years ago, I didn’t feel they were congruent. In fact, initially I didn’t even have a camera in the monastery. And when I was given one, I kept it locked in “Pandora’s box."– from the LEICA CAMERA BLOG Interview

LEICA CAMERA BLOG
Nicholas Vreeland Interview
"Capturing Photographs to Honor and Preserve His World"

More about Vreeland's exhibition Return to the Roof of the World
on La Lettre de la Photographie

A MONKS PHOTO JOURNAL: Preparing For HH The Dalai Lama's Visit to Mundgod

The monks of Rato Dratsang preparing for HH The Dalai Lama's visit

Rato Monastery, Mundgod, Karnataka, India

The monks of Rato Dratsang preparing for HH The Dalai Lama's visit

Preparing for HH The Dalai Lama's visit, Rato Dratsang Monastery

Preparing for HH The Dalai Lama's visit, Rato Dratsang Monastery

Rato Monastery, Mundgod, Karnataka, India

A Monk's PhotoJournalist, Nicholas Vreeland

The monks of Rato Dratsang Monastery, in Mundgod, Karnataka, India, are preparing for His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Inaugurate their Monastery January 31, 2011, followed by Teachings Febuary 1-5th. HH The Dalai Lama Schedule of teachings Here. Many of the new buildings for the Monastery were provided for from the sale of photographs by Nicholas Vreeland through the Rato Dratsang Foundation. Early in his career, Vreeland worked for both Irving Penn and Richard Avedon. An exhibition of his photographs will be shown at the Leica Gallery, New York, April 22- June 4, 2011.

All Photographs (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

A Monks PhotoJournal: May and June

Khyongla Rato Rinpoche and friends, May 2010 (enlarge)
Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

Geshe Vreeland rushing through Naples, June 2010
Photograph (c) Beatrice Caracciolo /All Rights Reserved

Rome, June 2010
Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

New York Leica Gallery Director Jay R. Deutsch and Nicholas Vreeland.
My photo, NYC, June 4, 2010

Rinpoche, author of "My Life and Lives", with a foreword by Joseph Campbell, studying Tibetan texts on his porch, June 2010. Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

HH The Dalai Lama Teaching at Radio City Music Hall, May 20th-22nd, 2010. The Teaching Organizers, front row facing, l to r; Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, Geshe Nicholas Vreeland, Richard Gere and translator Geshe Thupten Jinpa. Photograph (c) Herman Velez/All Rights Reserved

Khyongla Rato Rinpoche making a traditional offering to HHDL
Photograph (c) Herman Velez/All Rights Reserved

View Rato Dratsang Foundation Photographs

A Monk's PhotoJournal: Aug 2009, Dec 2009, March 2010, April 2010
An Open Heart by The Dalai Lama, Edited by Nicholas Vreeland

NICHOLAS VREELAND: A Monks PhotoJournal April 2010

Train to New Jersey
Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, New Jersey
Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

Buddha

Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

Train from New Jersey
Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

A Monk's PhotoJournal: April 2010

New Jersey: Venerable Nicholas Vreeland, Director of The Tibet Center (the oldest Tibetan Buddhist Center in New York City founded by Khyongla Rato Rinpoche), sent photos from his recent stop-over in New Jersey with Rinpoche while they prepare for His Holiness The Dalai Lama's visit to New York in May. The Tibet Center and Richard Gere's Healing The Divide organization will co-host His Holiness The Dalai Lama's Teachings at Radio City Music Hall in NYC May 20-23, 2010. Purchase Tickets.

A Monk's PhotoJournal: March 2010
A Monk's PhotoJournal: Dec 2009

Nicholas Vreeland Bio
Rato Dratsang Foundation Photographs For Sale
An Open Heart by The Dalai Lama, Edited by Nicholas Vreeland

NICHOLAS VREELAND: A Monk's PhotoJournal March 2010

The town of McLeod Ganj, above Dharamsala
Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

Circumambulating His Holiness the Dalai Lama's palace...
Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

View of the valley from lower Dharamsala
Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

Mani Stones along the Road
Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

The Ling Lineage: Khyongla Rato Rinpoche teaching Ling Rinpoche (left), Thamtog Rinpoche, Guru Rinpoche, Zopa Rinpoche, Dakpo Rinpoche, Pagri Rinpoche and others. Rinpoche was bestowing the oral transmission of a text written by the previous Ling Rinpoche's predecessor, which Khyongla Rinpoche had received from the previous Ling Rinpoche (b. 1903 d. 1983) and was teaching at the request of the present Ling Rinpoche (b. 1985). Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

A Monk's PhotoJournal: March 2010

Dharamsala, India: Tibetan Buddhist monk and photographer, Venerable Nicholas Vreeland, Director of The Tibet Center (the oldest Tibetan Buddhist Center in New York City founded by Khyongla Rato Rinpoche), sent photos from his recent stop-over in Dharamsala, the home of HH the Dalai Lama. After years of receiving NV's photo-email updates, I'm now posting his updates intermittently as "A Monk's PhotoJournal".

Vreeland's Fine Art Photography was recently exhibited throughout Europe and the U.S., including the Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paris, with proceeds from their sales going towards the Rato Dratsang Foundation.

The Tibet Center and Richard Gere's Healing The Divide organization will co-host His Holiness The Dalai Lama's Teachings at Radio City Music Hall in NYC May 20-23, 2010. Purchase Tickets.

Nicholas Vreeland Bio

Vreeland PhotoJournal
Rato Dratsang Foundation
A Monk's PhotoJournal: Dec 2009
An Open Heart by The Dalai Lama, Edited by Nicholas Vreeland

TRAVEL NOTES: Khyongla Rato Rinpoche

Richard Gere and Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, with HH the Dalai Lama's senior tutor, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche (embalmed body d. 1983), Dharamsala, India 1988. Photograph (c) Elizabeth Paul Avedon /All Rights Reserved

A Monk's PhotoJournal: December 2009

Greetings From The Mountains In Taiwan

Photograph (c) 2009 Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, Taiwan
Photograph (c) 2009 Nicholas Vreeland /All Rights Reserved

Rato Dratsang Foundation
The Gere Foundation