Tenzing Dakpa was born in 1985 in Sikkim, India but is second-generation Tibetan. Today he lives and works in Goa and New Dehli. He studied graphic design at the New Dehli College of Art, and it was during his studies he found himself drawn to photography. The camera “allowed me to engage with the world around me, and find my place within it,” he says. He then went on to complete an MFA in photography at the Rhode Island School of Design. Between 2014-2016 he was the recipient of a RISD fellowship and the T.C. Colley Scholarship for Excellence in Photography in 2015. Furthermore, he was an artist in residence at the Center for Photography, Woodstock, NY in 2016.
Dakpa’s most ambitious and extensive project up to date is titled The Hotel, in which he has documented the daily life in the hotel built by his parents. Growing up Dapka and his brother had to help out with the family business; they worked in the kitchen with their mother, whilst their father looked after the guests. The Hotel is a series of images which captures this space, both a home and workplace for the Dakpa family. It was published in book form by Steidl in April 2020 and it won the Photobook award at the Singapore International Photography Festival. His work was included in the first historical survey of photography in Tibet and the Himalayas entitled Photography and Tibet by Clare Harris. Dakpa has featured in numerous exhibitions in galleries and institutions worldwide, including: The Hotel, indigo+madder, London 2019; Asia House, London in 2018; FotoFest Houston Biennial, Asia Society Texas Center (Texas) in 2018; Lamar Dodd School of Art, Athens, Georgia in 2016; Sol Koffler Gallery, Rhode Island in 2015; Woods Gerry Gallery (Rhode Island) in 2014; World Event Young Artists festival (Nottingham) and The Art Loft (Mumbai) in 2012.
