Patrick Sutherland: Spiti: The Forbidden Valley

High in the Himalayan valleys of Himachal Pradesh in North India there is a community that is culturally part of Tibet, even though inside India's borders. Previously cut off from the outside world in a designated military zone for years, the community is now coming to terms with the cultural assault of the Western world as it becomes a tourist attraction - modern technical and media artifacts are now becoming part of their lives. Sutherland has visited the forbidden valley for six years from 1993 to 1998, and documented the rapid change in their lives. These images are graphic and powerful statements of what we lose in the modern way of life.

Patrick Sutherland is a documentary photographer/Lecturer in photojournalism. His clients include Independent Magazine, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday times, Radio Times, Daily Telegraph, DAS, Sunday Times Magazine, New Scientist etc. His most recent photographic project is on the Spiti Valley in North India which documents the culture of a Himalayan community and the changes affecting it. It addresses the issue of social change and development in a remote culture.