Vogue in Bhutan - a road less travelled
am absolutely loving the Tim Walker photo shoot in this months Vogue. I am a huge fan of Tim Walker’s work, having been to his amazing exhibition at Somerset House last year and owning two of his gorgeous coffee table books. This however is even more magical as its shot in Bhutan which I have been lucky enough to visit. His pictures from this Vogue in Bhutan convey the beauty and intrigue of this magical Kingdom perfectly. I visited in 2007 after our yearly visit to our workshop in Rajasthan. We made our way right across India and up into Bhutan. We felt very privileged as they only let a small number of visitors in a year as they are trying to restrict tourism so it doesn't ruin their incredible culture and landscape. Who cannot love a country who talks about Gross National Happiness (GNH) rather than GNP. A phrase coined as a signal of commitment to building an economy that would serve Bhutan's culture, based on Buddhist spiritual values instead of western material development. The Bhutanese people are amazing. They still all wear their traditional national dress on a day to day basis but they also have very modern views on subjects such as the roles of women in society, which are far more liberal than their neighbouring countries. It was a pleasant change form India to be able to chat freely with women in a bar who were having a beer!
The Tim walker shoot takes them to some of Bhutan’s most special places. In the Vogue article the photos are accompanied by a written piece by the model who is in the shoot who mentions the hard walk up to Tigers Nest Monastery .
The photos from this location are stunning and it brought back lots of memories from our visit there. Not nearly as glamorous but me in a similar spot wish my backpack had been filled with anything so fabulous.
Such a special place.