It is an irresistible urge to venture beyond that led Philippe Montillier to the Himalayas. For over twenty years, this photographer has captured light and emotions there. It is around this light, these emotions, and encounters with these women and men that this colorful exhibition takes us.
For Philippe Montillier, travel and the many encounters it engenders form an anthem to life, inconvenient and painful at times, always shimmering, addressing those who know that one cannot live without the unknown ahead, without going to see others and learn about their lives.
That is why this need for elsewhere consists, for me, in addition to the apprehension of places and landscapes, in the discovery of others, approaching people living in extraordinary settings or in difficult conditions that allow little, if any, room for whimsy: remoteness, altitude, self-sufficiency, nomadism, or harsh working or survival modes.
I had the opportunity to participate in a number of high mountain expeditions and long treks at altitude, especially in Nepal. The major revelation came through the approach and more specific study of the porters, whether they are sherpas – high-altitude porters –, sirdars – leaders of the support team –, coolies, simple porters paid by the task, or bepari porters, farmers moving to neighboring valleys to sell goods on their own account. They strive to carry maximum loads for minimum wages, currently around one hundred euros per month.
Throughout the year and across seasons, these unique individuals travel Nepal. They have turned the natural barrier of the Himalayas into a massive crossroads of exchanges. The country sustains itself through the titanic work of all these women and men who carry goods over long distances and supply the most remote valleys and inaccessible villages with the strength of their legs and backs, defying cold, adverse weather, and altitude. Among them, one truly measures altruism, courage, loyalty, and also joy despite often challenging living conditions and relentless hard labor. All this endows them with a degree of humility found only there.
The profession of a porter, despite its difficulty and the toll it takes on the body, is not, like some tasks, a source of indignity. There is greatness in this activity. Mountaineers, Himalayan climbers, those who have had to ferry heavy loads at the base of cliffs or in altitude camps, know this.
To all these porters, extraordinary women and men who navigate the high valleys and altitude with apparent ease, to those who practice this exhausting trade, to those who are unforgettable companions in trekking, to those who embark on long journeys across the Himalayas throughout the year, pushing the boundaries of courage and endurance, to those who perpetuate one of the great traditions of this country, I dedicate this text as for them, extraordinary feats are an everyday routine.
