Yeshi Tshogyel, Tenchen Choeling Gatshel Buddhist Nuns College, Paro, Bhutan 2023

In the 9th century Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) introduced Buddhism to Bhutan, accompanied by his consort, the great and miraculous dakini Yeshi Tshogyel. Yeshi turned herself into a pregnant flying tigress and Guru Rinpoche rode on her back to the Tiger's Nest Cave on the cliffs high above Paro Valley. While photographing the students of the 14th-century Tenchen Choeling Gatshel Buddhist Nuns College across the Paro Valley from the Tiger's Nest, I met another Yeshi Tshogyel. She is second from left in this photo with her friend, Lheki Tshomo, holding her arm. The light was beautiful as I posed the young women on the temple stairs, but they were nervous and tense. Living cloistered lives for years without cameras or cell phones, they weren't accustomed to being photographed. I took out my notebook, made a sketch of the composition, and asked for their names. When I got to the second nun and she told me her name was Yeshi Tshogyel, I replied, "Yeshi Tshogyel! Yeshi Tshogyel! You must