I have been documenting my worldwide life and travels for over four decades.  Born in Beijing, China, to a Chinese father and a mother who is half Japanese and half indigenous Chinese, my family fled China when Communists came to power.  I was three. Settling in Japan, then the United States, and later the United Kingdom, I have experienced the physical, emotional and spiritual traumas that arise from migration.

As a documentary photography in New York City, I focused on multi-culturalism and collaborated on a book, A Place Called Chinese America, that tells the story of Chinese immigrants.  In my professional life, I worked as a management consultant and executive coach in the USA, Asia and Europe.  I received an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business and a Ph.D from Cambridge University where I wrote a thesis about multi-cultural workplace dynamics in China.  As a Buddhist, I found that integrating the teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama into professional consulting and coaching work resulted in more harmonious workplace relationships and deeper understanding of cultural differences.

As a student of Tibetan Buddhist teachings and its meditative practices, I decided to use my skills as a photographer to document the Tibetan Diaspora and its preservation of cultural and national identity in exile.  Over the past ten years, I photographed numerous visits to over two dozen Tibetan refugee communities in India and Nepal. This project is a gift to the Tibetan community and a way to express appreciation for preserving and sharing its culture of which I am a beneficiary.

This Tibet project unites aspects of my life—the understanding of the emotional effects of migration, documentation of the sights and sounds of Tibetan life in exile and the study of Tibetan Buddhism. Photographs of various aspects of the Tibetan community showcases day-to-day life with residents in educational, religious, and cultural activities.  The Dalai Lama has taken a special interest in this project and granted access to his archival photos, ceremonies and private living areas. 

If you are interested in learning more about this Tibetan Diaspora project, please go to my blog. On this website you will find extensive photographs of people and places from my travels.