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The Making of “And Buddha Showed The Way”
“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” ~ The Buddha
The Photograph
I’m not much into Buddhism, I must admit. Even less so into buddhist quotes. But I have always believed in that old universal saying from the east that goes “The teacher shows you the way to the door of understanding. But the act of walking through the door the student must do themselves.”
It was an early morning in December 2004 when I made this image at the Shanti Stupa at Leh in the Himalayan region of Ladakh, India. Put it down to the biting cold (twenty Celsius below zero) and the fact that there are very few visitors to the region at that time of the year), and I had the place pretty much to myself and my workshop participant. That meant I could really spend time looking around without having people creep into the frame – ah, Luxury!
What really caught my eye was the sweep of the ascending staircase. I immediately looked around for elements that could add to what I saw at first glance and observed the frescoes. Put together, they immediately brought to mind that universal quote I talked about – the rising staircase is all about going somewhere, the diminishing perspective of the frescoes is about a guide walking with you part of the way, but leaving the pinnacle for you to summit for yourself.
Visually, the yellow and blue in the image makes for a great combination; they really complement each other. Great importance was paid to the precise composition to get all those lines in the frame just right, as was the choice of how much of blue sky and mountains to include for balance.
Post-processing was minimal and restricted to boosting the colors a bit, along with contrast.
I must admit I was extremely pleased with the way this image turned out when printed – it was one of the first of my Wall to Wall prints (my Magnum Opus series) and really looks great up large hanging on a wall.
The Fine Art Print
This fine art photograph is available in three product formats: (1) as a ready-to-hang Stretched Canvas Print,(2) a framed Canvas Print, and (3) a framed Fine Art Paper Print. All materials used in the printing and framing process are acid free, making the print especially resistant to aging. Prints are produced using the highest quality papers / canvases using the best inks possible.
To purchase this fine art photograph, please contact us.
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