Judith Hertog
A young woman wearing an elaborate brocade dress gazes up at the Jokhang Temple, the oldest and holiest pilgrimage site in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. Surrounding her is an array of people in colorful ensembles. Women with braided hair spin hand-held prayer wheels. Couples in matching traditional chuba robes lovingly look into each other’s eyes. Men in fur-lined nomad coats stride through the alleys, swords strapped to their sides—seeming remnants from an idyllic past.
But upon closer inspection, cracks appear in the facade. The jewelry is fake. The braids are hair extensions. The chubas are rented. Many of the women are spinning their prayer wheels the wrong way. The young woman in the brocade dress is not, in fact, a pilgrim, but a Chinese tourist posing for a professional photographer. As she angles her face for the perfect shot, an actual pilgrim impatiently walks through the frame, glaring at the people blocking his way along the prayer path.
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