A mountain of images

Ambitious photographer sets out to record the flora and fauna of the Himalayas, Yang Feiyue reports.

An urge to take stock of nature's bounty in his hometown has sent Luo Hao on a 12-year odyssey. The man, who is in his late 50s, has dug into his own pocket and led a team to trek to every nook and cranny in the Tibet autonomous region on a mission to capture images of its precious wildlife.

They have managed to produce hundreds of thousands of photos, some of which are the first recorded images of some of the region's stunning plants and animals.

Extreme conditions on the plateau gave them a difficult time, and there were even death-defying close calls, but Luo says it was all worth it when his photography collection Top of the World made its public debut.

The collection is aimed at shedding new light on the distinctive flora and fauna around Qomolangma, known as Mount Everest in the West. "I started planning the book in 2015 and it took eight years for it (the collection) to see the light of day," Luo says.

Their expedition was hindered that year by the devastating earthquake that hit the Nepali capital Kathmandu. "It borders on Tibet, so we had to cancel the trip and postponed it for three years," Luo says.

The investigation restarted in 2018, but then was sidelined by the pandemic. It ended up lasting for another three years.

"But it might be a case of the road to happiness being strewn with setbacks. We basically managed to photograph everything we wanted," Luo says, adding that the book covers 10 new species on Qomolangma.