Shared Journeys in Ladakh: Sebastian Schmitt and Otto Honigman (1907 to 1912)

"... The missionary, who's also the doctor here in the town, told us some interesting things about circumstances here; he knew the king well and the king often went to see him. This doctor's name is Schmitt, and he has lived here for some years with his family. He comes from Heidelberg ...",
Otto Honigmann letter to his mother, 8th June 1911.


Sebastian Schmitt was a doctor living in Leh during the years 1907 to 1913. It was during this time he met the traveller Otto Honigmann who spent a year in Ladakh between 1911 to 1912.
Almost a hundred years later, their granddaughters - Michaela Appel and Gisela Müller - met in Germany, and realised that their grandfathers had been friends, had exchanged photographs and letters over the years.
LAMO has, on separate occasions, exhibited the photos of Honigmann and Schmitt. As well as letters they sent to their family. Continuing the dialogue that existed over the generations, in this exhibition, LAMO decided to juxtapose their images and to compare and contrast both the differences and similarities in their visual language. Interjecting text from their letters, the exhibition also draws on their words to share their personal reflections and experiences. Our personal connections with both Apple and Müller, hearing their stories about their grandfathers, has also helped bring this together.
While much photography has been done in Ladakh since the late 19th Century, we find each photographer had their own way of interpreting the place and representing it through their images. Some focused on the landscape, others on the people and religious customs, and yet' others on the architectural forms in the area. Some people stayed longer and built personal relationships with individual Ladakhis, others passed through and had more fleeting meetings.