Not for the faint of heart

[desmo]

Today I have a very special treat for the forum.

A few years ago I was invited to a Tibetan Sky Burial.
These images will shcok some but taken in the context of their cultural significance; they are important.
Warning: human body parts may upset some people.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=4278

 

[JoeFriday]

that goes along with my unlikely goal to have a viking funeral when I die.. being the dutiful norske that I am.. I want to be put in a wooden boat, set on fire and pushed out into a lake

 

[desmo]

good for you.
as a Celt I might have the same feelings but actually I'd rather be cremated and my ashes spilled from the back of a fast moving motorcycle in the mountains near my home town (Southland. New Zealand)

 

[desmo]

Would that ever be sanctioned in the US?
I would imagine here in New Zealand, that Maori (indiginous people) would have the right to do so but for most, health and safety requirements would overule cultural priorities.

that goes along with my unlikely goal to have a viking funeral when I die.. being the dutiful norske that I am.. I want to be put in a wooden boat, set on fire and pushed out into a lake

 

[telenous]

Awesome series - thanks for sharing. I quite agree with your pragmatic explanation of the origins of the 'burial' custom. Contax G delivered the goods.

 

[desmo]

I hope to raise some discussion with these shots. There are obvious moral and ethical questions to be asked and answered as well as some of more general interest.
However, it is early Saturday morning and I am off to distant Napier for a couple of days. I will respond to any burning questions when I return.

 

[jacema]

Joe shouldn't it be the sea?
BTW I have already decided what's gonna happen when I die - I'm gonna get used as spare parts.

Jacques

 

[titrisol]

very interesting method.
Give it back to nature in a different way than most occidental cultures

Nice use of the wide angle.

 

[ch1]

I hope to raise some discussion with these shots. There are obvious moral and ethical questions to be asked and answered as well as some of more general interest.
However, it is early Saturday morning and I am off to distant Napier for a couple of days. I will respond to any burning questions when I return.

As a westerner, I personally found nothing "offensive" in the pics. Over the years, we've seen far more "gruesome" photos from various war zones and at the WTC on 9/11 etc.

My one question is whether it might be "offensive" to a Tibetan who might consider taking such photos to be "sacriligeous"? But, since you were apparently invited to the ceremony, and you weren't yourself disassembled at the scene as a consequence of your actions, I presume your shooting was considered "acceptable".

 

[JoeFriday]

Would that ever be sanctioned in the US?
I would imagine here in New Zealand, that Maori (indiginous people) would have the right to do so but for most, health and safety requirements would overule cultural priorities.

I'm pretty sure it there are health regulations banning the open burning and disposal of human remains.. maybe I'll arrange to have myself cremated.. the ashes placed in the boat along with some symbolic viking funeral elements.. and burned.. that would probably suffice

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Brett lives in Wisconsin, near one of the huge Great Lakes... a kind of Midwestern "mare nostrum." Hence his allusion to the lake.

Only one bit of a problem with your Viking dream, Brett... can you imagine all the firetrucks parked nearby just in case "something goes awry"?

Typical Midwestern caution... 🙂

 

[Film dino]

Thanks for posting these pictures, especially the one of the Great Wall. Amazing light. I'm going to have a look at the "Beijing end" in April.

 

[desmo]

Before I go for the weekend I should fill in a gap in that pragmatic explanation:

Wood has traditionally been precious way up there on the plateau (these are at about 3800 metres). Trees don't grow well if at all and there would have been little to build a funeral pyre with as is the custom in many Asian countries.
So, with no way to dig a grave and no wood to cremate the bodies: the next best means of disposal becomes nature itself: vultures and other fauna of the region.

Awesome series - thanks for sharing. I quite agree with your pragmatic explanation of the origins of the 'burial' custom. Contax G delivered the goods.

 

[desmo]

You'll love it, the Beijing end is certainly picturesque if not old in the context of the wall.
The Beijing end is just a few hundred years old while the western end is the original Han Chang Cheng built more than 2000 years ago.

From Beijing to Jiayuguan would be a 45 hour train trip west followed by a 7 hour bus trip up the mountains.

Thanks for posting these pictures, especially the one of the Great Wall. Amazing light. I'm going to have a look at the "Beijing end" in April.

 

[desmo]

"My one question is whether it might be "offensive" to a Tibetan who might consider taking such photos to be "sacriligeous"?"

As you note: I was not myself dismembered for taking the shots. No, there was nothing sacriligious about taking the shots. My Tibetan friends (who I'd known for 3 years by then), told me they were proud to tell the world about their culture.

In the end it is how you go about taking the shots that makes the difference. On the same trip a group of tourists really offended the Tibetans by walking the wrong way around the town taking shots of people praying and spinning the wheels of life (prayer wheels). Those wheels and the movement near them are meant to go in one direction. Going the other way 'unwound' the circle of life as my friends explained.

Remember this if you're in Tibet or any Buddhist area. Walk the same direction as the locals.

As a westerner, I personally found nothing "offensive" in the pics. Over the years, we've seen far more "gruesome" photos from various war zones and at the WTC on 9/11 etc.

My one question is whether it might be "offensive" to a Tibetan who might consider taking such photos to be "sacriligeous"? But, since you were apparently invited to the ceremony, and you weren't yourself disassembled at the scene as a consequence of your actions, I presume your shooting was considered "acceptable".

 

[desmo]

Salamat Pagi (yes, it's morning in New Zealand where I live)

I lived in Malaysia as a child: Taiping and Ipoh. I have returned many times for work and pleasure.
My father was a New Zealand soldier helping Malaysia in the Emergency when Indonesia was trying to invade.
We left in 1963

Thanks for posting these pictures, especially the one of the Great Wall. Amazing light. I'm going to have a look at the "Beijing end" in April.

 

[dostacos]

that goes along with my unlikely goal to have a viking funeral when I die.. being the dutiful norske that I am.. I want to be put in a wooden boat, set on fire and pushed out into a lake

so what are you going to use as the DOG at your feet? [think Beau Geste 😀 ]

hmm, that sounds like a business opportunity, creamtion and scattering of the ashes at the same time. Probably would need to be outside the 3 mile limit in the ocean.....

 

[ch1]

so what are you going to use as the DOG at your feet? [think Beau Geste 😀 ]

hmm, that sounds like a business opportunity, creamtion and scattering of the ashes at the same time. Probably would need to be outside the 3 mile limit in the ocean.....

Dere are some boys here in Noo Yawk City that specialize in burials at sea! 😀

 

[sooner]

Thanks for posting the pictures, which I found striking both as photos and windows into a foreign culture. I generally believe we (meaning Americans, mostly) are far too sheltered in what we see and perceive about life and the rest of the world. Without trying to be political, take the war in Iraq; you'd be hard pressed, on tv at least, to find a graphic picture from over there, let alone tough journalistic reports on what's really going on there. But more broadly, we don't deal with death in an open and healthy way, IMHO. That's more information than you wanted, but it does explain why I appreciate the photos.

 

[cp_ste.croix]

Beutiful pictures, I feel the the 21 really helps avoid any tendency towards voyeuristic and gruesome detail, providing a respectful distance while still telling the story. Very well done.