Dalai Lama: Photographs by Manuel Bauer. 1990-2024

Captures the public and private life of the Dalai Lama through decades of photographs.

The fourteenth Dalai Lama is one of the most famous personalities of our time. As the exiled principal spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and one of the most distinguished scholars of his religion, he enjoys global recognition and admiration. No other photographer in the world is as close to His Holiness as Manuel Bauer, whose deep interest in Buddhism and Tibet dates back more than three decades. Since 1990, Bauer has visited and traveled with the Dalai Lama many times and has captured his public appearances and events as well as his private life in thousands of atmospheric photographs.

Dalai Lama features hundreds of these images, many of which are published here for the first time. They offer unique insights into the Dalai Lama’s travels and public appearances around the world as well as the ensuing media hype. They also allow us to share some of the few moments when this global figure is alone with himself and his thoughts. A special section documents and visuals explain a Kalacakra, a fascinating sand mandala ritual that the Dalai Lama held with followers in the Indian Ladakh region in 2014.

The volume is rounded out with essays contributed by Thupten Jinpa, the Dalai Lama’s longtime interpreter and a renowned Buddhist scholar, and Swiss journalist Christian Schmidt. They broaden our view of Tibetan culture and religious tradition and our understanding of the Dalai Lama’s significance.

The Zurich-based Gaden Phodrang Foundation of the Dalai Lama was founded in 2015 to maintain and support the tradition and institution of the Dalai Lama’s religious and spiritual duties.