Enlightenment at High Altitudes
If taking pictures old school on a roll of film is a way to slow things down, is
there a better place to shoot than Bhutan, a nation partly rooted in a different
era and yet also far ahead on the learning curve?
78 TRAVEL+LEISURE | APRIL / MAY 2020
In my viewfinder, I was all set for a photo
course in majestic Bhutan. Then via long-distance,
Michael Turek, the New York City–based
photographer who leads an upcoming trip there,
dropped a Himalayan-sized bomb on me. “Oh, the
thing is,” he said, “you have to do this on film.”
Pausing, I told him the only film camera I still
own is a medium-format Mamiya 7II, a wonderful
piece of 6x7 technical simplicity—and one that I
hadn’t touched in a decade.
“That’s perfect,” Michael exclaimed, not knowing
the limits of my aging eyes. I was intimidated. “Great,
you should be,” he said, “but you need to have fun
with this, too.” He explained why film is the perfect
choice for Bhutan; how it’s more intentional; how
limiting parameters helps you become more creative;
why flaws and imperfections should enter the
equation. With that, he sent me off to Bhutan,
waiting to review my photos upon my return.
Truth be told, I could see how pixel-perfect
digital photographs can get monotonous. Still, I
wasn’t convinced that an intentionally blurry or
undersaturated shot holds any merit. Until, that is, Ipicked up my camera again and encountered some
high-altitude wisdom served with a side dish of
momos and chili paste.
Advance to day two in Bhutan. After seeing me
shoot with both digital and film cameras, my guide
for the week, Sonam, a woman who is equal parts
unparalleled wisdom and non-stop hilarity, told me
she had it figured out. The digital camera, she said,
is very Western in temperment, aiming for
perfection, the risk being that the resulting photos
conform to a certain sameness. But, my Mamiya—
with its 120mm spool of film, manual demands and
the sheer fact of not knowing if a photograph has
turned out for at least a week—made her refer to my
film camera by a new name: Only Buddha Knows.
Especially after receiving Michael’s comments
and critiques, which caption my photos on the
following pages, I can say that Sonam was, as
always, spot on. — CHRISTOPHER KUCWAYMichael Turek (michaelturek.com) will lead an nine-
day photo journey with Como (comohotels.com) in
Bhutan this October.