A prize-winner?s assignment to photograph the Dalai Lama will go ahead as planned despite the recent troubles in Tibet.
The two-day trip to document the life of the exiled spiritual leader was the top prize in the 2007 Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) – a competition won by London-based photographer Cat Vinton.
A spokeswoman for the competition told us that the trip ? organised by adventure travel company High & Wild ? is expected to go ahead.
However, she indicated that the situation could affect the dates of the assignment, which is scheduled to take place in May or June.
The trip will give the photographer the chance to document a ‘day-in-the-life-of’ photo-essay in Dharamsala, the Tibetan settlement in Northern India.
The terms for entering the 2007 TPOTY competition stated: ?The winner must be given security clearance by the Tibetan Authorities prior to the trip departure.?
The news comes as the Dalai Lama stands accused of instigating violence in Tibet – an accusation he denies.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao today blamed the Dalai Lama for orchestrating violence in Tibet?s main city Lhasa, according to media reports.
The Chinese leader claimed the protests were intended to sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games which are being held in August.
The Dalai Lama is a Buddhist monk who went into exile in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet.
Photographs of the Dalai Lama are currently banned in Tibet.
Last weekend Tibetan authorities began house-to-house searches across Lhasa to confiscate any images of the Dalai Lama hidden in Tibetan homes, according to a report in The Times newspaper yesterday.
