Photographers Without Borders

In the next couple of months, I will be travelling to Northern India to work with Photographers Without Borders (PWB) and the NGO, Tibet World. They work with Tibetan refugees and help them build a new foundation for the individual or families fleeing Tibet. Tibet World is currently home to over 200 refugees with a small staff working with the NGO. Their goal is to help exiled refugees from Tibet live in a world few of us could ever imagine surviving in.

With everything happening around the world right now, the struggles of global refugees is such a front and center issue. Tibet World is working with refugees that have, for whatever reason, been living out of the general public eye for way too long. I’d like to help change that. With your support I’m sure we can shed some light on this important social issue.

As this is a volunteer position, PWB has set me up with their crowd-funding page and I am currently raising funds to offset any costs associated with the project. If you are an American citizen, your donation can be tax deductible. Please help this mission reach its full potential and donate whatever you can. You’re generosity is much appreciated.

Please donate here:

grouprev.com/pwbfundraiser-joeypanetta

You can also read an interview that PWB wrote about me here:

http://www.photographerswithoutborders.org/blog/2015/10/2/joey-panetta-before-his-mission-for-tibet-world

The following are a few images from that beautiful part of the world.

Himalaya

This photo is from a few years back, during some time spent travelling throughout the top of the Himalaya’s in Northern India. Awe-struck for two weeks straight, the natural danger of the road made the views along the way that much more beautiful.  Route 22 will always have a special place in my heart.

prayer flags

Barbed wire fencing lines a hillside road in Dharamsala, India.  Tibetan prayer flags are a common scene in the northern Province of Himachal Pradesh.

freedom

The one constant found in all countries, cultures and creeds is the innate desire for freedom.  We will fight at any cost for it, protest until beaten and jailed, move to the un-known for a better way, even do the un-thinkable in the name of whatever you believe in, secular or otherwise.  The following image was taken in Dharamsala, India during a three day protest for Tibetans, both living within their borders and abroad.  This otherwise sleepy town was transformed into a constant wave of refugees, monks and Indian locals all supporting the most desired cause of all, freedom.

.trapped.

Photographed in Thailand, India and Morocco, these images are part of a growing series directly related to this visual theme.  The title of this post pretty much sums up my idea for this series.

the monks

Photographed in the Tsuglagkhang Temple. Dharamsala, India.