Stories beyond the set.

As a photographer, I am drawn to challenges. That is why I answered this call to adventure in the Indian Himalayas: two weeks alongside seasoned Colombian adventure rider A2Ruedas on a journey across five of the highest paved mountain passes on Earth. Guided by Gulzar Husen, we encountered routes, trading posts and settlements whose histories reach back to the Silk Road. We learned about a richly diverse mountain region where Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic, Muslim and Bön traditions coexist alongside Mongol, Nepali, Urdu-speaking, Ladakhi, Sherpa, Bhutia, Lepcha and many other communities—people accustomed to the scarcity of a high-altitude desert, yet surrounded by an unimaginable cultural abundance.

The architecture, religion and uncompromising force of the land have inhabited my imagination ever since. I cannot help but see these communities as kindred mountain peoples: resolute and strong, yet overlooked by a modern world moving too quickly to make room for balanced ways of life, and too often concerned with extracting resources at the expense of the land and its people. They are both beneficiaries and victims of a militarized culture that builds infrastructure without pause—opening new channels to the outside world while sustaining the tension and fear of a possible confrontation with a neighboring power.