Zuder, S: Samuel Zuder

In 2012, Samuel Zuder (*1965) set out to one of the most fascinating places in the world. According to legend, the yogi Milarepa was the only one to have scaled it in the twelfth century, although thousands of pilgrims circumambulated it: Mount Kailash-also known as the "Jewel of Snow" due to its unusually symmetrical form-in the middle of the rocky desert of Tibet's Changthang plateau. Venerated by four religious orientations-Hinduism, Buddhism, Jaina, and Boen-the photographer harnessed the magnetism of this site, its promise of happiness and enlightenment, in his images. With his large-format, analogue camera, Zuder accompanied pilgrims over a period of several weeks on their approximately fifty-three-kilometer-long path around Mount Kailash-which they regard as the origin of the world-to capture its silent grandeur.