Every summer since I was ten, I’ve visited my Buddhist master, Jamyang Lodro Rinpoche, in Zamtang, Aba, a small town in the Tibetan highlands of Sichuan, China.
I took these photos in the summer of 2024 as part of a long-term project I started six years ago, documenting the cultural traditions and people of Zamtang. I’ve been photographing the same subjects over the years. Many of them I grew up with, many I’ve watched grow up. All of whom have become as close as family.
2024 was the first time I visited Zamtang since COVID-19. It had been five years. As we drove up the mountains, I knew, at some point during the trip, I was going to cry. Why, I did not know.
When I did cry, it was because of the children.
Contact Yuen Ning Chang at yuenning.chang@yale.edu.