These images are part of a long-form documentary project I have undertaken on sustainable living in Vermont with the working title: Defining Sustainability

Photographs © Copyright 2011 Seth Butler. All Rights Reserved.

Kham Province, Tibet. 2007.
A Chinese settler works to process recycled grain bags as two native Tibetans walk past. Due to oppressive government policy, ethnic Chinese have taken many of even the most rudimentary of jobs in Tibet, as well as much of the land the native population once used for it’s primarily nomadic culture. In an intervention document prepared for the United Nations, the Tibet Justice Center has stated “The massive transfer of Chinese settlers and soldiers has had a devastating impact on the economic, social and cultural life—and rights—of Tibetans. Tibetan farm and grasslands have been confiscated and incorporated into collectivized and communal farms. The rapid increase in settlers and soldiers lead to the first famines in Tibet’s history, with the death of over 340,000 Tibetans, because the land could not support the rapid increase. Ill-conceived efforts to boost productivity of lands suitable only for nomadic grazing or limited farming has resulted in widespread desertification.” Social unrest flared up in Eastern Tibet again in early 2011 when monks began to set themselves on fire as a form of silent protest against what they view as political and religious represssion. A total of at least twenty Tibetans are believed to have self-immolated since then, most of them either former or current Buddhist monks & nuns. © Copyright 2007 Seth Butler. http://www.sethbutler.com

Tibetan Buddhism in the Social Landscape

Excerpt from Human Rights Watch China World Report 2012:

The situation in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and the neighboring Tibetan autonomous areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan province, remained tense in 2011 following the massive crackdown on popular protests that swept the plateau in 2008. Chinese security forces maintain a heavy presence and the authorities continue to tightly restrict access and travel to Tibetan areas, particularly for journalists and foreign visitors. Tibetans suspected of being critical of political, religious, cultural, or economic state policies are targeted on charges of “separatism.”

The government continues to build a “new socialist countryside” by relocating and rehousing up to 80 percent of the TAR population, including all pastoralists and nomads.

The Chinese government has given no indication it would accommodate the aspirations of Tibetan people for greater autonomy, even within the narrow confines of the country’s autonomy law on ethnic minorities’ areas. It has rejected holding negotiations with the new elected leader of the Tibetan community in exile, Lobsang Sangay, and warned that it would designate the next Dalai Lama itself.

In August Sichuan authorities imposed heavy prison sentences on three ethnic Tibetan monks from the Kirti monastery for assisting another monk who self-immolated in protest in March. Ten more Tibetan monks and one nun had self-immolated through mid-November, all expressing their desperation over the lack of religious freedom.

—Human Rights Watch

Excerpt from a JAN. 24, 2012 Statement by the Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Maria Otero:

…I am gravely concerned by reports of violence and continuing heightened tensions in Tibetan areas of China, including reports of security forces in Sichuan province opening fire on protesters, killing some and injuring others.

These reports follow the self-immolation of four Tibetans earlier this month, bringing the number of reported self-immolations by Tibetans to 16—mostly monks and former monks, and two nuns—since March 2011…

…these policies include dramatically expanded Chinese government controls on religious life and practice; ongoing “patriotic education” campaigns within monasteries that require monks to denounce the Dalai Lama; the permanent placement of Chinese officials in monasteries; increasingly intensive surveillance, arbitrary detentions and disappearances of Tibetans; and restrictions on and imprisonment of some families and friends of self-immolators…

…We urge Chinese security forces to exercise restraint, and we renew our call to allow access to Tibetan areas of China for journalists, diplomats and other observers. We call on the Chinese government to resume substantive, results-oriented dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives to address the underlying grievances of China’s Tibetan population… READ MORE

Photograph © Copyright Christian Bobst. All Rights Reserved.

Just before the holidays I received a stunning 8 x 10 print of a photograph by former Momenta Workshops student Christian Bobst which I had recently purchased for a close friend as a holiday gift from Nuru Project.

The concept of Nuru Project is beautiful and quite simple really, they split the revenue from all their print sales with a number of non-profit partners and photographers alike, a real win-win scenario.

Nuru project is a very accessible way to collect photography—print costs start at only $50 USD—while also directly supporting contributing photographers and positive change through non-profits simultaneously. Non-profits receive 50%, photographers receive 25%, and Nuru Project keeps 25% to cover all printing costs, so a full 50% of the sale of a print goes to the non-profit and a full 25% goes to the photographer.

Currently, Nuru Project supports the following non-profit partners which can be chosen to benefit from your purchase:

• Acumen Fund
• Architecture for Humanity
• Malaria No More
• Millennium Promise
• Partners In Health
• Pencils of Promise

opportunity to reciprocate

Not only can documentary photographers and photojournalist support causes they believe in and discuss in their own work through Nuru Project, but collecting quality photography becomes more accessible to the public. Another exciting feature of the Nuru Project concept is that it allows both photographers, collectors and lovers of photography to support a good cause and have ownership of photographs they might not otherwise be able to afford through the traditional fine art marketplace.

There is also a “back story” document which accompanies each photographic print, so you can connect with the photographer’s intent and have documentation of the art and non-profit benefactor as well. Moving forward in this new year, we should all consider ways to give back a little more, while supporting artists and good causes alike in order to achieve more positive impact in our world.

Community Building

A harvest party organized by Fable Farm CSA in Barnard, Vermont to clear the remainder of their fields after the first snow of the year. Over thirty individuals from the town and surrounding communities volunteered together to harvest a bumper crop of approximately 2500 pounds of organic carrots which would be donated to local farm-to-school programs, individuals and families in need of food, with any remainder allocated to winter storage in local roots cellars to help support farm community members.

These images are part of a long-form documentary project I have undertaken on sustainable living in Vermont with the working title: Defining Sustainability

Photographs © Copyright 2011 Seth Butler. All Rights Reserved.