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Tibetan folk songs sometimes sing of beyul "hidden lands" that only those of pure heart and mind can see. Tucked into the towering peaks and steeply forested valleys of the Eastern Himalayas, the Bhutanese believe their country to be such a place.
Bhutan: Hidden Lands of Happiness is a geographical and cultural passage from the yak pastures along the Tibetan boarder to the rice lands in central Bhutan. Guiding the reader through the districts of Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Gasa, Laya, Lunana, Wangdi, Bumtang and Trongsa, the book reveals remote hot springs and isolated hermitages then ends in the streets and nightclubs of the country's capital, Thimphu Town. 108 black and white images narrated with stories, journal entries, folklore, dharma teachings and oral history create a portal across centuries. Clear, skillfully composed and rich in depth and detail, these flawless images illustrate an intimate tale of Bhutan told by an artist who is deeply familiar with his subject.
Bhutan: Hidden Lands of Happiness, John Wehrheim, Serindia Publications, Hardcover, 277 Pages, $65.00
Sent to Hawai'i by the Sierra Club in 1969, John Wehrheim did a series of articles entitled "Paradise Lost" and then never went back to the mainland. In 1971 he began photographing Taylor Camp, a clothing-optional, pot-friendly tree house community begun by Howard Taylor, brother of actress Elizabeth. Then in 1975, after two years living with both refugees and traditional villagers in Asia, John returned to Kauai and began to seriously document Taylor Camp, seeing it as both a traditional village and refugee settlement--"hippie" refugees from the straight world living next to a crystalline stream in a tropical forest along a beach in "paradise". 30 year later John tracked down and interviewed these Taylor Camp residents, their neighbors and the government officials who finally got rid of them and created the book "TAYLOR CAMP".
Photographer, writer and filmmaker, John lives on Kauai with his wife JoAnn Yukimura and their daughter Maile. His most recent film is also titled "TAYLOR CAMP". Previous work includes the book "BHUTAN: Hidden Lands of Happiness" and the film "BHUTAN: Taking the Middle Path to Happiness" currently being aired on PBS. John's now working on "LIVING MASTERS: Bhutan's great Lamas, Yogis and Hermits".
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