December 2012: as we near the end of its 5,200 year cycle, the Mayan calendar has inspired many to believe the end of the world is nigh. Everywhere new « prophets » are on the rise. But what do modern-day Mayans think about this prophecy? This article is a field survey into the 2012 phenomenon.

Photos by Eliane Beeson/LightMediation Text by Caroline Chapeaux

For more Pictures and Informations please contact – Thierry Tinacci – LightMediation Photo Agency – email: thierry[AT]lightmediation.com – mobile: +33.6.61.80.57.21

Deep in a valley in China, in what was once the Kham region of Eastern Tibet, lies the Dege library, heralded as the third holiest Buddhist site after the Potala Palace and the Mount Kailash. Dege’sunique collection includes 270,000 books on hand carved wooden plates…

Photos by Remi Benali/LightMediation Text by Heather Robinson

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Born in the same period and in the same region as Buddhism, Jainism made non-violence its first credo. Once every twelve years, its followers pay an extraordinary homage to the statue of the prophet Bahubali, who had freed himself from desire and illusions. This is the day of the Great Unction, a veritable, and literal, deluge of saffron, milk and sandalwood.

Photos and text by Christophe Boisvieux/LightMediation

For more Pictures or Informations please contact – Thierry Tinacci – LightMediation Photo Agency – email: thierry[AT]lightmediation.com – mobile: +33.6.61.80.57.21

In the north of Norway, the reindeer-herding nomads await Easter to live it up in all their finery. With deer races, ice fishing competitions, baptisms and weddings, they celebrate the arrival of spring and the end of the long polar night.

a Photo story by Christophe Boisvieux/LigthMediation

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Sacred water on the verge of extinction

In January 2009, the National Institute of Natural Resources in Peru stated that the Quilca glacier, located at an altitude of 5,250 metres in the region of Puno, had completely disappeared. The agency believes that because of global warming all of Peru’s 2000 glaciers are destined to totally melt by 2025.

A Photo story by Andrew McLeish / LightMediation

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In 2009 in Paris, you saw the Mount Athos and The Byzantine Empire exhibition. Then Andrei Rublev became your favourite movie. You have devoured all the books available on iconography and your beard has grown. Without doubt The Holy Mountain is calling you!

Photos by Manolo Mylonas/LightMediation Text by Alec Hagondokoff

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Every year Ban Khok Sanga, Thai village where the cobra is king, celebrates the Buddhist New Year, Son Kran, using it as an occasion to venerate the Buddha and the cobra. The village owes its reputation to this ceremony. Visitors come from all over the country to be able to get close to the reptiles and to watch an extremely dangerous encounter during which the man has to dominate and then finish by trapping the reptile’s head with his mouth. This finale is called the kiss of death…

Photos and text by Patrick Aventurier/LightMediation

For more Pictures or Informations please contact – Thierry Tinacci – LightMediation Photo Agency – email: thierry[AT]lightmediation.com – mobile: +33.6.61.80.57.21

Very dear to the hearts of the natives of Alsace, Advent is the ideal time to discover lively markets, delicate pastrie and sparkling decorations which, at Christmas, offer a glimpse into the soul of Alsace.

Photos and text by Marc Dozier/LightMediation

For more Pictures or Informations please contact – Thierry Tinacci – LightMediation Photo Agency +33 (0)6 61 80 57 21 thierry[AT]lightmediation.com

Multicultural meeting and market places, the souqs and bazaars in the Islamic metropolises make up the heart of those cities. In their unending meanders,the vendors pass down their know-how since centuries ago. In a day when everything must be quick and modern, what’s left of these chaotic realms with their nonetheless well-established codes?

Photographs by Pascal Meunier/LightMediation Text by Eve Gandossi

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Beyond the erotic utopy attached to the vahine by cinema and literature,the myth of the beautiful polynesian women is still a reality ! It takes place nowadays in the many dance schools of Tahiti, during weddings, around the podiums of Beauty elections, but also on the beaches of Moorea or by the trails of the far islands. Here are the new vahines of Tahiti !

Photos and text by Olivier Goujon/LightMediation

For more Pictures or Informations please contact – Thierry Tinacci – LightMediation Photo Agency – email: thierry[AT]lightmediation.com – mobile: +33.6.61.80.57.21