IMAGE-MAKING AND VISUAL CULTURE IN TIBET

What does a photograph do when it enters a religiously sacred or geopolitically contested space? Using the Tibetan Plateau as a primary case study and situating image-making practices within Tibetan Buddhist visual traditions, transcultural Himalayan networks, and Chinese media cultures, this interdisciplinary course examines photography, media, and visual culture from the twentieth century to the present, exploring how modernity and mediation functioned as active forces in the region's visual history. Through case studies ranging from studio portraiture and vernacular photography to pictorial magazines and film, students engage in close visual analysis of photographs, archival materials, and multimedia to explore how images were made, circulated, and engaged across religious, political, and technological contexts from the Tibetan Plateau through the Himalayas and East Asia.