A Different Way of Seeing: Returning to Bhutan with Leica
What changes when you slow down behind the camera? Discover a more mindful approach to photography in Bhutan.
Have you ever arrived somewhere so extraordinary that your first instinct was to reach for your camera?
Bhutan has a way of making you do that.
The mountains, monasteries, prayer flags, traditional architecture and colourful festivals are immediately captivating. But when I first travelled through the country, I realised that the photographs I valued most were not necessarily the ones I had planned.
They appeared when I slowed down.
A quiet exchange in a market. A monk disappearing through a doorway. Prayer flags moving in the wind. A smile offered before the camera was raised.
Bhutan reminded me that photography is not only about looking for pictures. It is about being present enough to recognise them.
It also left me with questions that continue to shape my work.
How do we photograph a place without simply collecting images from it?
How do we approach people with curiosity and respect?
How do we stop chasing the obvious photograph and become open to the unexpected one?
My own approach comes from two connected careers. For more than 25 years, I have worked as a creative director, using design, ideas and images to tell stories and create meaning. Alongside that work, I have developed my practice as a travel photographer and writer, documenting culture, hospitality and human connection.
My previous journey through Bhutan became a turning point in that work. The photographs were recently exhibited at Leica Galerie Singapore in Chasing Light, Finding Wisdom. A selection was also published in Luxury Travel Magazine Australia as the photo essay Kingdom in the clouds. I have continued exploring these ideas through articles on photography, mindfulness and the responsibility we carry when photographing other people and cultures.
Chasing Light, Finding Wisdom photography exhibition held from 9th April - 10th June 2026 at Leica Store Marina Bay Sands.
At the centre of this practice is a simple belief: photography should be a way to give pictures, not just take them.
Sometimes that means sharing a portrait with the person who gave you their time. Sometimes it means listening before photographing. Sometimes it means understanding that the most respectful decision is to leave the camera lowered.
Photography can also be a form of mindfulness. In a world competing constantly for our attention, the camera can help us reclaim it. Looking through a viewfinder asks us to pause, observe and become fully present in one small part of the world.
Bhutan is the perfect place to practise that.
This December, I am returning, and I would love you to join me.
I will be leading Travel with Leica: Kingdom of Bhutan, a photographic journey of seven days presented by Leica Singapore in collaboration with Druk Asia.
From 10 to 16 December 2026, we will travel through Thimphu, Punakha and Paro. We will experience the Druk Wangyel Tshechu, visit local markets and monasteries, discover Bhutanese cuisine and traditional arts, and make the climb to Taktsang Monastery, better known as Tiger’s Nest.
We will talk about light, composition and visual storytelling, with time to put these ideas into practice. Together, we will explore how slowing down, listening and paying attention can change the photographs we make and the connections we form.
Come for the mountains, the festivals, the food, the culture and the extraordinary people. You will almost certainly return with beautiful photographs.
You may also return with a different way of looking at the world.
