Qinghai

In Qinghai, I volunteered to deliver supplies with the Bao Sheng Cang organization, whose mission is to alleviate poverty in Qinghai. We worked alongside local volunteers and Tibetan Buddhist monks from as early as 4 in the morning to long past midnight the next day.
There I had the chance to witness Tibetan-Buddhist rituals of “fire sacrifice:” monks burning incense, butter, and spices to honor the Buddhas and Buddhist deities. Watching these devotional practices, I returned to the question I which has guided my inquiries from a young age: What is religion? With this in mind, I decided to take photos of monks and locals. Through this project, I realized that the Tibetan Buddhist religion gave monks purpose and the locals hope. The photos are largely portraiture, in addition to a few landscapes that depict the vast expanses which the locals traverse daily.