courtesy of Phil Borges

As a sponsor of Mountainfilm in Telluride (May 25-28), we’re excited to be a part of an eclectic roster of guests, films and programs that encompass adventure and environmental, cultural and social issues.

Photographer Phil Borges will exhibit his work and share his experiences at this year’s festival. By photographing people in indigenous cultures, the artist aims to heighten awareness of the issues faced by citizens in the developing world. He has a particularly close and long-standing relationship with Tibet and its people, and his latest book, Tibet: Culture on the Edge, reflects this beautifully.

This conversation with Phil and the stunning photographs he’s generously shared with us offer a glimpse into a weekend of good things to come at this year’s Mountainfilm in Telluride:

courtesy of Phil Borges

Your work strives to heighten people’s understanding of the many issues faced by those in the developing world. There are so many. How do you decide where to aim your lens?

It’s been a process of discovery for me. At first, my main interest was documenting indigenous cultures. As I became aware of the external pressures these people were dealing with, I began narrowing my focus on the human rights issues they faced (e.g. China’s occupation of Tibet and oil spills in the Ecuadorian Amazon). Over time, I became aware that the one human rights violation that affects almost every culture is the discrimination and oppression of women and girls. Since women’s empowerment has proven to be one of the best strategies to address poverty, build peace and environmental sustainability in communities and countries, I started to focus on this. In fact, I had returned to Tibet in 2009 to document a program that was addressing the extremely high rate of maternal mortality within the nomadic community when I became aware that climate change was creating such devastating consequences on the Tibetan plateau.

You were an orthodontist until you were 45. What prompted your dramatic career shift?

I fell in love with photography, and it swept me away.

When you show up in a community, how do you initiate relationships that lead to capturing such intimate images?

It just depends on the circumstances. If I’m making films for NGOs, as I have been lately, the introductions are made by the organization working in the community. When I was showing up in tribal communities unannounced, I just started taking Polaroids of the kids. It wasn’t long before everyone wanted a photo of themselves.

courtesy of Phil Borges

How many shots do you usually take before you get one that you know will work?

When I was making portraits with film I usually shot about 10 to 15 frames. With digital I can see when I’ve got what I want, so I’m tending to shoot less. Even when I was shooting film I was noticing that I usually got it in the first 5 frames.

courtesy of Phil Borges

You seem to have a special bond with the Tibetan people. Is that an accurate assessment, and if so, how would you explain it?

I love the Tibetan culture. Having a population that addresses “self cherishing” and “self grasping” from cradle to grave on a daily basis creates compassionate people and a nurturing social environment. Not that there aren’t other cultures that work at building compassion, it’s just that such a large percentage of the Tibetan population does it and they do it every day!

You founded Bridges to Understanding, an organization that connects students in Seattle, Washington with other students around the world. Through this program, you hope to build global citizenship. What have been some of the most rewarding results?

I could talk about this for hours. What I intended to happen in the beginning was a lot harder to do than I thought. We would pair up 14 photographers and writers (mostly from the U.S.) with 14 middle- or high-school students in small communities in Africa, Asia and Central/South America. Together in a workshop environment, we created a multimedia piece that addressed a social or environmental concern that the students had. In the process of creating the story, the students engaged in their community in a way that they never had before. They interviewed their community leaders and researched the issue —pollution of their rivers, teen pregnancy, etc. — then at the end of the workshop they showed the film to their community. I could share so many anecdotes demonstrating how this empowered the students.

We did the same digital storytelling training in Seattle classrooms and encouraged the Seattle students to share their stories online with the students in the developing world. We were hoping that this would lead to deep exchanges that would go on over time. Unfortunately, it was almost impossible to keep the students communicating online across cultures. I started the program in 2000 when the Internet was hardly functional in the developing world and before Facebook and Google Translate. With these new tools it might be possible. The most powerful exchanges occurred face to face in the two-week long workshops. I learned that giving young people a voice around substantial issues in their communities was transforming for them and built their community engagement/citizenship. The online global piece was just a lot harder to do.

Learn more about Mountainfilm in Telluride and check out this year’s lineup of visionary guests such as Phil Borges here.