The Chinese invasion of Tibet began in 1949 and over the last 50 years all but 13 of Tibet's 6,000 monasteries have been destroyed. Some were used for firing practice by Chinese tanks while the monks were still inside.

The Chinese invasion of Tibet began in 1949 and over the last 50 years all but 13 of Tibet's 6,000 monasteries have been destroyed. Some were used for firing practice by Chinese tanks while the monks were still inside.

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As the truth about Tibet emerged, what was learned was that Tibet was made up of hardy people and had also developed a unique interpretation of the teachings of Buddha. While the rest of the world was defining itself externally with bigger and better machines and weapons, the Tibetan Buddhists had devoted their efforts to advancement the definition and purpose of life by developing inwards.

At the top, the position of the Dalai Lama was revered and it held all the human intrigue that hierarchies are bound to possess. Nevertheless, much of what made Tibet unique in the world was built on the mystical practices, divination's and in the vast remoteness and great mountain ranges,Tibetans came to know and understand the array of spiritual deities that defined their rules of existence.

In 1932, the world was not fully mapped and a team of western mountain climbers went on a nine month expedition through China to the Chinese -Tibetan Border to find a mountain that many believed might be taller than Everest. Richard Burdsall, Arthur Emmons, Terris Moore and Jack Young sought to locate, and if possible, climb Mount Minya Konka.

In 2000, after meeting a group of Tibetan Monks and being introduced to a sponsorship program for monks living in exile in southern India. As a photographer, we began sending cameras to the monks and requested glimpses of their daily lives.

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The project grew into the Tibetan Photo Project and after early press by San Francisco Chronicle Art Critic Kenneth Baker, we were contacted by Kathryn Smathers who said she had some negatives from her father's 1932 mountain climbing expedition and there were pictures of Tibet. Would we be interested?

Notes from Joe Mickey. The photo project is funded on my not-so-large salary, and while honored by the offer, I felt we were not worthy and told Smathers that such wonderful photos really needed a better home, but she was insistent that they belonged with the Tibetan Photo Project and a few days later they arrived in my mail box.

I had expected to receive prints but what we got instead were about 30 original negatives from the expedition that went in search of a mountain higher than Everest.

A search of the Internet revealed that a book on the adventure had been written by the climbers and while out of print since 1989, was readily available, for a price. "Men Against the Clouds" details the effort and the assent of Minya Konka. It is not higher than Everest, but their assent of the 24,900 foot peak set an American altitude record that stood for 25 years. Before you rush out to buy your copy of "Men Against the Clouds" a word of warning - it is not a literary masterpiece of adventure. It is a dry, matter-of-fact telling of the story that includes the harrowing moments you would expect from such an uncharted adventure.

In looking at the photos and having my own feelings about the importance of Tibet to the remnants of heart and soul of the of the human race, I had hoped on reading the book to discover great spiritual awakenings among the Americans due to their contact with the Tibetans.

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This is not the case. The world was a different place in 1932 and to find spiritual awakening you have to be looking for it. Or as a young Lama I once interviewed told me, "In order to find the path to truth, you have to leave the life you are now living and go and study." The American mountaineering expedition was not on a spiritual search. Their efforts proved to be more of a military exercise as they made their attacks and assaults against the enemy of elements that surrounded the mountain.

When it was said and done, the Americans felt they had conquered the mountain and they were battered, injured and bruised and bandaged for the effort when they claimed victory. What the Americans did note about the Tibetans is that more than once Tibetan guides and nomads along the way insured their survival because of the TibetansÕ knowledge for living and coexisting with, instead of against, the mountain gods. On rare occasions the Westerners acknowledged that they were traveling sacred ground. Struggling at 23,000 feet there was a moment when they felt a kinship with birds that lived at that altitude but, at least from the book, there is an attitude of American superiority to both the Tibetans and the Chinese.

Tibetans know how to survive a night outside in a blizzard as a matter of daily travel and routine. These Americans treated it all as an elongated visit that should have had better solutions. It took time for it to dawn on them that the Tibetans were by the far the masters in the environment simply because they coexisted with the environment through a spiritual knowledge of the terrain.

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While the American climbers of Minya Konka only had brief visions of the spiritual lessons of Tibet, the experience traveled with them their entire lives, the way things do when they touch the heart and if there is one... the soul. The Americans captured glimpses on film of unique people that lived in another world The photographic images, while they may not show an understanding of their subject, there is not doubt that the Americans came to respect the Tibetans.

Even then, Tibet forced them to look deeper into themselves. It is that ability that Tibet still can hold for the world if the Chinese would let it be what it is supposed to be. China offers a great deal of technological advancement , the development of transportation and perhaps more creature comforts to Tibet. The problem is that China, like the Americans who climbed Mount Minya Konka, see a need to conquer and to rule over Tibet, instead of allowing it to be a place of majesty where the human soul soars, touches and hears the gods of all religions.

If the Chinese rule continues on its current path, the human race knows how this story will end. Europeans and the new Americans destroyed the Indians. Australia nearly annihilated the Aborigines and all they have to offer. White minority rule created utter desecration of the human condition in south Africa before its defeat created a hero for the world. People increasingly look to the external for satisfaction. Solutions to a growing number of problems are believed to be at hand with faster computers, smarter weapons and more money. Saving Tibet will be the last chance the world has to save itself from a place that matters most Ñ To be saved from the heart and soul.

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All images are Copyright 2001-2005, Joe Mickey and the Tibetan Photo Project and may not be published without permission. While you may print the material on this site for easy reading or sharing with friends: For feature articles, publication or public use of any of the material or images contained on this site please contact Joe Mickey via e-mail at tibetanphotoproject@hotmail.com and please reference your e-mail to the Tibetan Photo Project. Thank You.