Pilgrim at Tashilhunpo Monastery
Shigatse, Tibet, June 2001

Sometimes the most interesting photographs come at the least expected moments. I'd been walking around and photographing Tashilhunpo monastery for two hours when I decided to sit down in the courtyard to take a break. The monastery was crowded with thousands of pilgrims.  They had come from all over the region to celebrate the first day of Saga Dawa, the holiest festival in Tibet. As I watched festivities, this man sat down next to me and started a conversation in broken English.  We talked for twenty minutes. When I got up, he pointed at my camera and asked me to take his picture.