Monk with a Camera

The son of a diplomat, Nicholas Vreeland is also the grandson of Diana Vreeland, the chief editor of in the 1960s and an icon of fashion, photography and perfectionism. Growing up in a world of glamour and outward affection, little Nicky naturally took it all in. He became a photographer as well as a dedicated dandy, as his stepbrother describes him. And then he encountered Buddhism and Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, founder of the Tibet Center in New York City. When Nicholas's cameras, lenses and other photographic equipment were stolen one day, he saw it as a sign. He became a monk, and to do that he had to join a monastery. Now, decades later, the monastery is in need of additional housing and a new temple. Nicky plunges back into his old world of photography, and unwittingly assumes a role in the political games surrounding the disputed Buddhist nation of Tibet. In the words of his step-brother, Ptolemy Thompkins, "If somebody would write a screenplay about Diana Vreeland's grandson becoming a Buddhist who said no to all artifice, all fluffy surface, I think somebody who read it would say, 'It's too obvious.' Yet, that's what happened."