That shepherdess, like the girl on the famous chocolate box.

 

Left: At the Horse Racing Festival  
Right: 20-year-old girl Zhuoma Lamu

Once upon a time, in this distant land, people took pride in their own values, ancient legends, and heroic epics. They told these stories solely so that their children, when grown, would forever remember who they were and where their bloodline came from.

     

Left: 11-year-old girl Pema Rigmo  
Right: 13-year-old boy Waden Puntsok

   

Left: 11-year-old Yama  
Right: 13-year-old Zhuole

 

Left: A Khampa boy in traditional attire  
Right: A Khampa girl by her father's side

Confession to the Plateau

Frédéric Lemalet's last Instagram post was on September 20, 2023, where he wrote: "Photo Series 11: Yaqing Temple Series concludes. Stay tuned for the next update."  

Since then, there have been no updates from him. After searching online, it appears Frédéric is rarely active on social media, with only a few reports available about him.

 

 

Top left: 15-year-old herder girl Gegkuo  
Top right: 18-year-old herder girl Rinqen Zhuoma  
Bottom left: 10-year-old boy Gongbu Tsetan  
Bottom right: 6-year-old boy Gongchok Namgyal

Therefore, to understand him, one must return to Instagram—where he carefully curated and shared his photographic works taken on the plateau, divided into 11 series: Winter on the Plateau, Nomads, Tea on the Plateau, Monasteries, Portraits, and more. Spanning all four seasons and capturing the essence of daily life, these images are Frédéric's love letter to the highlands.

   

 

Top left: 21-year-old herder girl Zhuoma  
Top right: 18-year-old herder girl Tsetso  
Bottom left: A Khampa herder woman  
Bottom right: 26-year-old Achu

In those tents full of chiaroscuro, faces and hands emerge from the half-light; the parchment-like skin of elders radiates warm tones, while children's more delicate complexions and the splendid colors of garments are all revealed.

     

 

Top left: 24-year-old Chumi Yangzom  
Top right: 17-year-old herder girl Angya  
Bottom left: 55-year-old Yunke  
Bottom right: 85-year-old grandmother Tserang Lhamo

They are fading away.

Born in France in 1973, Frédéric traveled across many parts of the world as a travel photographer, but only one place captivated his soul—the plateau. From 2003 to 2013, he regularly shuttled between his homeland and the plateau, immersing himself in both the material and spiritual lives of its people.

 

Plateau Winter

He was captivated by the rugged beauty of the plateau, marveling that "few lands inspire the world's imagination like this highland." In the spiritual pursuits of its people, he found the answers he had long sought within himself. From then on, he embraced a new mission: to let the world see them, to witness their culture—because they are fading away.

 

Frédéric possessed many qualities that set him apart from other photographers. One of them was his ability to remember nearly every subject's name and age—a detail evident in the captions beneath each photograph.

 

Left: 10-year-old girl Renlo  
Right: Chumi Rigmo at the tent entrance

Secondly, all his photographs were taken with a film camera, relying entirely on natural light—whether from a window, a doorway, or the entrance of a tent, or the unique interplay of darkness inside a black tent and sunlight filtering through, mixed with smoke from the hearth. This not only showcases Frédéric's exceptional skill but also serves as an authentic representation of the plateau's natural and cultural landscape.

 

Left: 9-year-old herder girl Tashi Lhamo  
Right: 10-year-old herder girl Lobsang Drolma

The girl on the chocolate box

Frédéric particularly enjoyed photographing children on the plateau. First, he discovered a unique way of calculating age there. For example, he once met a little boy named Ergu: "He's 4 years old, but by Western standards, he'd only be 2 or 3. On the plateau, the nine months of pregnancy count as one year. If a child is born one month before the New Year, they're already considered 1 year old. After the New Year - just one month later - they become 2 years old."

 

 

Top left: 4-year-old herder boy Ergu  
Top right: Young herder boy Jamyang Dorje  
Bottom left: 11-year-old herder boy Jamyang Sonam  
Bottom right: Young herder boy Jamyang Dorje

During the shooting process, Frédéric encountered many adorable and mischievous children. For example, there was 5-year-old Genkar Lhamo holding a cat in her family's tent, 6-year-old Rinchen Chokyi cradling a lamb at the tent entrance, and a young herder girl living with her grandmother while her parents worked away—who reminded Frédéric of Alenka, the girl on the Russian chocolate box.

 

 

Top left: 5-year-old Genkar Lhamo  
Top right: 6-year-old Rinchen Chokyi with her lamb  
Bottom left: The herder girl resembling the chocolate box girl  
Bottom right: 10-year-old Renlo with her father

Herding, collecting yak dung, gathering firewood—these too are portraits of plateau children through Frédéric's lens. On the plateau, from around age five, children shoulder the responsibility of helping their families with chores, a vital part of their upbringing. Frédéric believed this was a key reason behind the resilient character of every plateau child.

 

   

Plateau children shouldering household chores

Do you have a tea bowl (jhani)?

Tea is an essential part of plateau society—keeping monks alert during long meditation and herders warm in the harsh winters. It’s said a Tibetan can drink up to 60 cups a day.  

In pastoral areas, the tea is called *pocha*, made with black tea, butter, and a pinch of salt. Its flavor shifts with the butter’s aging. In Lhasa, sugar replaces salt, and it’s named *cha namo*.

 

 

The daily tea rituals of the plateau people

Offering butter tea is a gesture of welcome and respect among the plateau people. When you enter any tent, they'll ask, "Do you have a tea bowl (jhani)?" Nearly everyone here carries their own tea bowl—drinking tea is the most common daily ritual of the highlands.

   

   

Brewing tea

Waking in the embrace of Mount Kailash

Hanging prayer flags, journeying to Lhasa, circling monasteries, meditating—these are inseparable parts of the spiritual life on the plateau, all captured by Frédéric's lens along the way.  

Nomads typically choose winter for their pilgrimages to Lhasa, when rivers freeze over and crossings become easier. These journeys often last extraordinarily long—one group Frédéric encountered took 2 years, 2 months, and 3 days to reach their destination. Some carried all their necessities on their backs, while others performed full-body prostrations, kneeling every three steps.

 

 

On the journey to Mount Kailash, Frédéric documented many people and stories along the way. During his second trip, snow covered the entire path, and he decided to pitch his tent for the night at an elevation of around 5,500 meters.  

The next morning, as he opened his eyes to a soft dawn light, his toes were nearly frostbitten from the cold (they remained black for two months afterward), leaving him restless through the night. Yet, to his delight, he spotted the two figures in the photo passing by his tent at that very moment. "The scene was so beautiful," he later recalled.

   

 

Left: Nomads on their way to Lhasa  
Right: 75-year-old grandmother Zongdri Pamo and her companions  
Left: Two passersby in front of the tent  
Right: Travelers crossing the frozen river

Life of herders at -30°C

On the plateau, blizzards can strike unexpectedly in both winter and summer. When this happens, herders rush to bring their yaks, sheep, and horses home—lest the animals get lost, stolen, or preyed on by wolves or snow leopards. In the sparsely populated Changtang region, wolves and other wild animals are common sights, seemingly accustomed to human presence.

 

   

Winter on the Plateau

Temperatures can drop to -30°C or even -40°C in winter, yet the herders' lives go on as usual—the bitter cold seemingly unable to affect them. Whenever I asked if they felt cold, they would shake their heads and say no. They must tend to their livestock or search for lost sheep and yaks on snow-covered mountains. Such an environment has forged their robust physique and indomitable spirit.

   

   

Winter on the Plateau

Stories belong to the night

Beyond photography, Frédéric collected hundreds of stories and legends orally recounted by elderly Tibetans, compiling them into a book titled Tibetan Folk Tales.

Tibetan Folk Tales

These stories depict part of the plateau's culture in wondrous and humorous ways. Passed down orally through generations, they are tales told by elders to children, who in turn share them with their own children when grown. They speak of ethics, culture, values, ancient wisdom—and crucially, they brim with entertainment, weaving joy into people's lives.

   

     

Plateau nomads

Stories belong to the night. As the family, young and old, settles into sleep and drowsiness thickens, trees, animals, and people begin to whisper. Mythic warriors, mysterious princesses, and demons take the stage in the mind's theater. These tales stretch as vast as the grasslands and mountains. To the deep grumbles of yaks, Apa-la and Ama-la's voices softly rise: "Long, long ago..."

   

   

Children of the plateau

"Once upon a time, in this distant land, people took pride in their own values, ancient legends, and heroic epics. They told these stories solely so their children, when grown, would forever remember who they were and where their bloodline came from."

   

   

People of the plateau

Let the world see them, see their culture—because they are fading away.

Frédéric Lemalet  

Photographer, Artist, Writer  
Born in France in 1973, he traveled across many parts of the world but cherished the plateau above all. From 2003 to 2013, he lived on the plateau for years, documenting its nature and culture through photography. His works have been exhibited in numerous events and published by various institutions.