Concept

Yak

Images

  • Nepal; town life in the Khumbu, 1986. As N0022572C. Namche Bazar (altitude 3446 metres) under snow. The climate in the Khumbu can be harsh and unpredictable. The tents in the foreground belong to a European mountaineering expedition. The yaks are unperturbed.
  • Nepal; bridge over river in the Khumbu, 1986
  • Nepal; yak transport in the Khumbu, 1986. Sherpas drive a pair of heavily laden yaks along a narrow path on the long climb from Lukla (altitude 2827 metres) to Namche Bazar (3446 metres), the main town in the Khumbu region. The yak is the beast of burden in the Khumbu as well as providing wool, milk, cheese and butter. Yak butter is burned in votive lamps and drunk in tea. The animals command a high price and are carefully nurtured by their owners.
  • Nepal; agriculture and subsistence in the Khumbu, 1986. Sherpa with young yak. The economic emphasis of the Khumbu is on animal husbandry, and the breeding and tending of yaks and cattle was an important occupation when this photograph was taken. Yaks command a good price. On walled, flat terraces, Sherpas cultivate their staple diet of potatoes, barley, buckwheat, and in lower areas, rice. In this picture, taken at altitude 2900 metres, the land sustains the commercial cultivation of medicinal herbs although increases in production are limited by environmental degradation, largely through soil erosion.
  • Nepal; agriculture and subsistence in the Khumbu, 1986. Area as N0022565. Farmland on the lower slopes of the Himalayas (altitude 2900 metres). Sherpas are Buddhists and their houses are surrounded with prayer sticks flying cloth flags. A sherpa group with yaks travel along
  • Nepal; travelling butcher in the Khumbu, 1986. Well-dressed Sherpas buying yak meat from butcher, near Lukla (altitude 2827 metres). Meat is not generally eaten by Sherpas who are Buddhists, adhering to the oldest, unreformed sect of Tibetan Buddhism known as Kar-gyud-pa. Buddhists make up about 5.3% of Nepal's population whilst 89.5% are Hindu. The cultural heritage of the Sherpas, however, has always remained with Tibet.
  • Nepal; bridge over river in the Khumbu, 1986
  • A Tibetan yak overlooking a precipice. Wood engraving.
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Catalogue

All works (8)