The Buddhist monastery of Tabo is located in the barren Himalayan mountain desert valley of Spiti, formerly part of Western Tibet, now, Northern India. Founded in the year 996, it is the oldest continuously operating temple site in Tibetan culture, remaining largely unaltered from its original state over one thousand years ago.
Photographer, explorer, and author Peter van Ham has dedicated over 30 years to studying this remarkable ancient site, meticulously documenting its breathtaking artworks, sculptures, and buildings. Building on the success of its initial release in 2015, he has now unveiled a revised edition of his groundbreaking photography book, Tabo: Gods of Light, and it is nothing short of spectacular!
The Tabo Monastery was predominantly constructed from simple mud huts, which functioned as universities and gathering spaces for saints and scholars in the 11th century. This period is celebrated as the 'golden period'. Within the monastery, the main temple – known as the 'Palace of Excellent Teachings' –boasts an impressive and diverse collection of Indo-Tibetan art, showcasing masterpieces that have withstood the test of time for centuries.
The main temple building is an artwork in itself, created from a collaboration between Indian and West Tibetan artists, its form takes the shape of a horizontal mandala - a symbol of higher enlightenment.
Tabo presents artworks adorning the interiors of its various temples including thirty-three 1,000-year-old sculptures and hundreds of paintings providing a rare insight into Tibetan art forms and styles. It provides a unique look at the preserved second period of West Tibetan art from the 15th and 16th centuries as well as later periods, all documented with accompanying texts and presented in a large format volume by van Ham.
Speaking on Tabo, van Ham says, "At an altitude of 3200 meters in the barren western Himalayan desert of India, directly on the border to Tibet, lies the oldest monastery in the entire Tibetan cultural area, preserved largely its original form: Tabo. Founded in 996 A.D. by the kings of Western Tibet, it still shines today, more than 1000 years later, with incomparable works of art in sculpture and painting, which are still held in high esteem as a means of attaining the highest states of enlightenment".
There are not many places left in the world where you can experience the art and craftsmanship of the culture that made it over 1,000 years ago, therefore Tabo is an endangered and ancient site that is ordinarily strictly off-limits to cameras. Peter van Ham was granted special permissions when first documenting the site in the 1980s and returning in 2023 he knew he wanted to photograph further. This time, however, with the help of Danish camera manufacturer Phase One, responsible for developing the highest resolution cameras on the market.
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After success with Phase One cameras on a previous project, van Ham reached out again for support which was given by the use of Phase One's incredible high-resolution equipment. Van Ham used a combination of the Phase One XF and XT camera bodies with the 150-megapixel IQ4 150 digital back and a selection of lenses that included SK 240mm, SK 120mm, SK 80mm, SK 55mm, and SK 35mm.
The walls of the temples were so large that many of the images were captured and stitched into a composition, which van Ham said took weeks of post-processing to finalize. This wasn't the end of the technical challenges as with every shift of the camera, the LED light panels used to illuminate the artwork would also need to change. Each shot you see in the book was fought for and crafted to be as true to life as possible, a testament to van Ham's technical prowess.
The resulting book offers an exceptional large-format exploration of Tabo, guiding the reader through this ancient site with remarkable detail. Each section features insightful text that delivers comprehensive knowledge about Tabo's history, accompanied by stunning, high-quality images that immerse you in the experience as if you were truly there.
Tabo: Gods of Light by Peter van Ham is published by Hirmer Verlag and is available to buy now in the UK for £55 and for preorder in the US for $70 with a November 26 release date – although early Black Friday deals have it discounted already!
This is the ideal holiday gift for those interested in photography, art, or history as it provides an exclusive look at a culture largely untouched for 1,000 years and presents it in a beautifully curated viewing experience!
