The Dalai Lama on Manuel Bauer

By His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Comments by the Dalai Lama on the Pictorial Portrait Project and photographer Manuel Bauer during an interview for Swiss national TV SFDRS in Dharamsala in March 2004.

„He is more than simply a professional: he is a close friend of mine. He also knows a great deal about Tibet, about the Tibetan community, and he has spent years making himself familiar with our culture. He understands Tibet comprehensively, as he does the exile community; and he knows me very well too. It is this knowledge that allows his pictures to say so much about their subjects.“

„Not only do I admire his profession – taking pictures. I also admire him as a human being. He is a very nice person, very sincere, very humble. I believe he possesses a very pure sort of mental attitude. This is my personal view, my personal feeling. I have known him for many years now, and he has demonstrated a profound affinity for me throughout the entire period. I consider him a true friend.“

„There is no doubt that some Tibetans will appreciate this project which I have seen and approved, that they will like it. Others, of course, may be more disturbed by it, and that’s only normal. People are so different: just think of Buddha, or Jesus Christ, and of how many people have admired these great masters. And yet at the same time there have also been critical voices among the choruses of praise. This is simply human nature.“