4.17.2009

NICHOLAS VREELAND: HH The Dalai Lama

Photograph (c) Nicholas Vreeland/All Rights Reserved

42nd Street, NYC. Photograph (c) Elizabeth Paul Avedon

THE DALAI LAMA VISITS USA APRIL- MAY 2009
Photograph of
H.H. The Dalai Lama by Nicholas Vreeland

VEN. NICHOLAS VREELAND, born in Geneva, Switzerland, a protégé of Henri Cartier - Bresson, son of American ambassador, Frederick Vreeland, and grandson of fashion icon, Diana Vreeland, has lived in Germany, Morocco, Italy, Paris, New York and India. He's fluent in Tibetan, Italian, French, Spanish, English, German, and Hindi, among other languages. He studied at NYU film school, initially worked for Irving Penn, before later working for Richard Avedon, and photographed Maharajahs and Tibetan Rinpoches over many years carrying a huge Deardorff 5 x 7 throughout India. His elegant portrait of the Dalai Lama in his flip flops above was used as a billboard all over New York City during His Holiness's 2003 visit.

Vreeland studied Buddhism at The Tibet Center, the oldest Tibetan Buddhist Center in NYC, under the tutelage of scholar Khyongla Rato Rinpoche. In 1985, he became a full-time Buddhist monk, living at the Rato Dratsang monastery in Karnataka, India. After 14 years of study, Vreeland holds the Ser Tri Geshe Degree, one of only three Westerners to ever achieve this honor. In 2001, he had the special distinction of editing An Open Heart, a New York Times Best Seller List book by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Vreeland helped organize and arrange, along with the Gere Foundation, HH The Dalai Lama's 1999, 2003, and 2007 Teachings in NYC. The Dalai Lama is touring the U.S. beginning in Santa Barbara, Ca April 26 and May 3 in NYC. HH The Dalai Lama's U.S. Schedule in April-May 2009

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