In celebration of the International Year of the Mountains, The Himalayan and the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies presented an exhibit of the work of photographers from around the world. Fifty-one photographs selected from among the hundreds submitted, were selected in a juried show at the Littman Gallery, Portland State University, during 2002.

Permissions
The photos of the High Asia exhibit and auction are the property of the photographers. The images included in this on-line auction are low resolution scans intended only for the purposes of this Web site. Permission for their use must be obtained from the photographers.

Journey to High Asia
Today most of us are likely to know High Asia--places like Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Nepal, and Tibet--as terrains of terror, zones of fanaticism and conflict: the abode of be-turbaned warlords, young women with assault rifles, brutal military repression.  We know so little about this part of the world, we are free to imagine the worst, and are easily led to perceive a place and people dominated by dark forces.

High Asia is a region of extraordinary diversity in both peoples and landscapes.  One can find there warlords and gun-toting girl revolutionaries and armies out of control.  But of course it is also a region with a long, rich, complicated history; natural landscapes encompassing highest mountains, wettest forest, driest desert; and many, many other peoples than these icons of violence.  Among the many people who live here are farmers, poets, heroes, mothers, teachers--far more likely to be peaceful than ferocious.  They have a common high-altitude homeland, and share all the vulnerability of the world's mountain peoples and places.

Mountains create distinctive natural environments and shape unique human living spaces.  The physical stresses of altitude and terrain are part of the distinctiveness of mountains as homelands.   Mapping the cultural landscapes of High Asia reveals an extraordinary diversity of mountain-dwelling groups.  Rugged refuges, mountains have long been harbors for displaced peoples crowded out of more productive plains areas by stronger competitors.  High Asia's mountains shelter a great variety of peoples who retreated to the safer highlands, whether 500 years or 5 days ago seeking a haven from political and economic processes dominated by plainsmen and other powerful outsiders.

This exhibit honors High Asia's peoples, appreciates the lives they make for themselves in some of the world's most challenging environments, and celebrates the mountains themselves: highest, greatest, most beautiful on the planet.

And this exhibit seeks to present a region through the eyes of travelers and residents who have seen for themselves the beauty and complexity of High Asia, and whose camera lenses are our eyes, so that we too may glimpse its diverse wonders.

Pass, Zanskar Mountains   Gary Goldenberg
Zanskar night sky    Martin Hartley
2 girls, Hushe, Pakistan   Gary Goldenberg     SOLD
Zanskar canyon and mountain    Martin Hartley
Sisters, Hispar, Pakistan    Gary Goldenberg     SOLD
Climbers on Gasherbrum II    Michael Clarke
Porters on Vigne Glacier    Gary Goldenberg
Trango Towers and rainbow    Gary Goldenberg     SOLD
Baltoro Glacier    Gary Goldenberg     SOLD
Girls watching mudslide    Gary Goldenberg     SOLD
Kirghiz Riders    David Padwa     SOLD
Pamiri woman    Hermann Kreutzman
Kirgizstan: Lake and figure    Martin Hartley     SOLD
Sangat Ram    Mark Baker
Great Himalaya National Park    Maker Baker
Zanskar: rainbow    Isabelle Riaboff     SOLD
Nomad mother and child    Birgit Keil
Kids with flowers, J&K India    Isabelle Riaboff     SOLD
House in Ladakh    Daniel Lemozy     SOLD
Stanzin, Zanskar    Martin Hartley     SOLD
Reading a Buddist text, Zanskar    Martin Hartley     SOLD
Gompa in Ladakh, winter    Martin Hartley     SOLD
Bakarwal nomad girl with kid    Cabeiri Robinson
Yak train, Cho Oyu (from south)    Michael Clarke     SOLD
"Cotton-ball plant"    Tohio Yoshida
Kangtega and chortens    Michael Clarke
Himalayan view    David Le Pagne
Chuldum    Jake Norton
Loading Yak, Tingre Plain, Tibet    Jake Norton
Yak train, Cho Oyu (north side)    David Le Pagne
Yak herder    David Le Pagne
Laughing girl, Tibet    Nancy Green     SOLD
Boys with photo of Dalai lama    Nancy Green
Boy with slingshot    John Lindsey     SOLD
Woman with Machapuchare    Michael Clarke     SOLD
Yak and Gokyo    Gary Goldenberg     SOLD
Plowmen    Shyam KC
Woman with view    John Lindsey     SOLD
Appleblossoms    Galen Burrell     SOLD
Tamang woman    Daniel Lemozy
Tibetan    Joel Correia     SOLD
Gompa, Tibet    Nancy Green
Latu village    Sara Schneiderman
Kanchenjunga silhouette    Gary Goldenberg     SOLD
Dancing, Suspa, Nepal    Sara Schneiderman
Monk, Paro, Bhutan    Gary Goldenberg
Markha Valley Highlands    Birgit Keil
Shepherd in Nimaling    Birgit Keil
Monks, Sera Monastery    Nancy Green     SOLD

Dedication
This exhibit is dedicated to the memory of Barbara and Galen Rowell, extraordinary photographers and global citizens who used their art to create understanding and awaken appreciation of the beautiful and vulnerable worlds of the earth, including High Asia.