Phil Borges, Rizzoli International Publications

From the Banff Mountain Book Festival:

Tsezim 78, Decky 72 Dharamsala, India

This tasteful collection of images is not only beautiful to look at, but moving as well. The compassion and forgiveness that are so important to Tibetan Buddhism are apparent in each portrait, from the 8-year-old Yama carrying her 10-month-old sister on a six-week pilgrimage to Lhasa, to the careworn faces of the elderly political refugees who fled Tibet in 1959 and are now living in Dharmsala, India. The hand-tinted photographs are finished perfectly with their irregular etched border. This, combined with what can only be described as a simply inspirational text by the Dalai Lama, deliver an elegant and understated volume.

Excerpt:

Tsezim and Decky are old friends. They were among the 100,000 Tibetans who fled from Tibet in 1959 along with the Dalai Lama. Decky's husband was killed during the uprising, but her five children escaped with her. She settled and raised her children in Dharamsala, which is currently the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in exile.