What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

http://www.luketownsendphoto.com/, http://www.luketownsendprints.com/

Luke Townsend-Photographer, Manhattan, NY (2025)

05/13/2025

A recent artwork I finished today on the full moon (15th day of 3rd lunar month), which is the day on which Buddha Shakyamuni was said to have given the teaching on Kālacakra - The Wheel of Time - (Duekhor Duchen) at the great stupa of Dhānyakatak.

Commissioned as a graduation gift for their grandson who is a third degree black belt in Taekwondo.

While my knowledge in Taekwondo is severly limited at best, I felt it appropriate to maintain the foundational Korean symbolism in this artwork of Tibetan calligraphy.

The white background symbolizing peace and purity, and at the the center is the red and blue Taeguk; Ying Yang. It’s the swirling, energetic harmony representing the origin of all things in the universe, the balance of good and evil, positive and negative, masculine and feminine, method and wisdom.

Beginning at the top and moving clockwise, set inbetween the red tsek marks, are the Five Great Principles/Tenents of Taekwondo:

‘Courtesy’ - བརྩི་བཀུར
‘Integrity’ - དྲང་ཚུགས
‘Perseverance’ - བརྩོན་འགྲུས
‘Self - Control’ - དུལ་བ
‘Indomitable Spirit’ - སེམས་ཉིད་དག་པ

The text at the bottom literally reads:

‘The Great Five’ - ཆེན་པོ་ལྔ་

22x30”
Arches Aquarelle

04/29/2025

Super grateful to for inviting me to hang a couple of my Tibetan calligraphy artworks at to fill some wall space in-between the main events; two crazy rad exhibitions by local artists and . You’re NOT gonna want to miss their shows - I can’t wait to see them this week!

Kendra’s timing here couldn’t have been more on point as tomorrow, April 30th is International Tibetan Calligraphy Day – བོད་ཀྱི་ཡིག་གཟུགས་དུས་ཆེན, and my first year having Tibetan calligraphy artworks exhibiting during this day!

The 30th day of April was chosen to mark this special day as there are 30 letters of the Tibetan alphabet, with four vowels represented by the fourth month of April.

These two artworks are messages of Love, and Compassion in Resistance with the included teachings and commentary texts.

Both pieces are numbered, limited editioned giclée prints, available for purchase, ready to hang on your wall!

Appreciate your support for all the local, small business artists….especially as rents coming due! 😂

04/26/2025

The Golden Rule
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

As the first Pope of the Americas - The People’s Pope - Jorge Mario Bergoglio - “Franciscus”, was laid to rest at the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, let us not forget this teaching the late Pope Francis gave to the U.S. congress in September 2015:

The Golden Rule: (Mt 7:12). “This Rule points us in a clear direction. Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated. Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves. Let us help others to grow, as we would like to be helped ourselves. In a word, if we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.”

e. 4th street, nyc, 2022

04/22/2025

“No King Donald”
“Only Cowards Doge Service”

50501 Nation-wide protest
Manhattan, KS
2025.04.19

Posted across the street from Manhattan’s City Hall, Uncle Sam is joined by a soldier of the Continental Army to protest the Return of the King on the 250th anniversary of the start of the Revolutionary War.

©️Luke Townsend/ZUMA

#50501

04/21/2025

50501 Nation-wide Protest
Manhattan, KS
2025.04.19

April 19, 1775 - the first shots of the American Revolutionary War were fired.

250 years later, on April 19, 2025, Americans fly the flag of the United States of America upside down, sending a powerful visual message to the world, a warning, from inside the heart of America’s Midwest.

What’s the message?

The United States Flag Code:
§ 8. Respect for flag

(a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

——

Internationally, the same day, April 19, 2025, Pope Francis declined to meet with the U.S. Vice President, JD Vance, instead sending the secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, for a meeting with the vice president in the Apostolic Palace.

“There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners,” the Vatican said of that meeting.

Pope Francis, who criticized the Trump administration’s deportation agenda and appeared to take issue with Vance’s use of Catholic doctrine to defend it, agreed to meet with JD Vance briefly on Easter Sunday.

One day after meeting with the U.S. Vice President, on Easter Monday, Pope Francis has died at 88 years of age.

“Finally, hope was expressed for serene collaboration between the state and the Catholic Church in the United States, whose valuable service to the most vulnerable people was acknowledged.”

04/21/2025

Celebrating 420 with a few of my favorite Lumen prints of natural growing cannabis found on my summer walks last year!

These Lumen prints were all made using Ilford MGFD matte paper and scanned after exposure prior to fixing.

#420

04/20/2025

“Peace”
50501 Nationwide Protest
Manhattan, KS
2025.04.19

This was one of the only images that I got really excited to make on Saturday. A universal symbol, a simple message which forces us to look at our shared humanity and interconnectedness with compassion rather than fear and hatred.

©️Luke Townsend/ZUMAPress

——
Below commentary shared by .norbu ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ

‘This advice is very important now because passionate political opinions can make us lose our love and compassion which harms us more than the politicians and fellow countrymen we dislike.’

༼Awakening Compassion༽

“Transforming our world into a peaceful and loving place is the responsibility of each of us.

We cannot achieve world peace by relying on those in positions of power to set policy.

The root of peace is pure compassion based on great equanimity. To be most effective in the work of peace or any other efforts to benefit, our approach must be founded on unbiased compassion. This itself is a spiritual practice. Any antagonism we feel toward those we disagree with will contaminate our actions and undermine our efforts.

There was once a lama, the head of a monastery, who functioned as administrator of a particular region in Tibet. The monastery’s disciplinarian noticed that some local people were behaving very badly. He went to the lama and said, “These people are making a mockery of our authority. Can I reprimand them?”

The lama replied, “That might not be not be the best thing to do. You won’t accomplish anything by being overbearing. Let me try something else.” The lama sent the people some food and other gifts, and invited them for tea. Over time, they became friendly and the lama was able to suggest a change in their approach. They took what he said to heart because they had come to trust him.

Treating others in a kind and open way is far more beneficial than taking an adversarial stance, which only produces resistance and animosity.

Developing compassion for someone who is harming others doesn’t seem right in an ordinary sense. But in the long run, it will significantly benefit ourselves and others as well.”

-The Bodhisattva Peace Training of Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche

04/16/2025

Welcome to America

We sent a 19 year old to the death camp today

Would you trust this?

04/13/2025

“Protect Trans Kids”
Little Apple Pride Parade, 2025

these are kids, y’all
KIDS
marching through the streets

… is anyone listening yet?

03/12/2025

Excited to share my latest Tibetan calligraphy artworks in the next two posts!
✊

འགོག་རྒོལ་བྱེད་པ།
[to] RESIST

I made these artworks, la-la-la-lost in the feelings of current political ramifications, inspired by the graphic nature of traditional propaganda posters and yet unaware of how to verbalize a call-to-action that’s rooted in the right motivation with sustainable compassion. Resistance imbued with Dharma.

I am just a basic, ordinary human after all, plagued by the same mental poisons we all share, so who am I to speak on such subjects?

Luckily, during a dissociative threads doom-scrolling session I came across a post from the head lama at the in Kansas City, Lama Matthew Palden Gocha, who provides a wonderful commentary on Resistance Embodying the Bodhisattva Spirit and implementing the Six Paramitas ( generosity, ethical conduct, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, wisdom) into our actions.

Lama teaches that it’s important to not just work towards alleviating the suffering in the world but to also transform our own hearts and minds in the process - for in understanding our shared humanity and interconnectedness, our resistance becomes more than a reaction - it becomes a mindful, sustained commitment to alleviating suffering and building a more just and compassionate society for all.

🙏🪷🙏

———

Read Lamas full statement at the link in my bio, or scroll past the photos to the screenshots in this post!

———
22x30”
Watercolour ink on Fabriano Aquarelle

03/12/2025

Excited to share my latest Tibetan calligraphy artworks in the next two posts!
✊

འགོག་རྒོལ་བྱེད་པ།
[to] RESIST

I made these artworks, la-la-la-lost in the feelings of current political ramifications, inspired by the graphic nature of traditional propaganda posters and yet unaware of how to verbalize a call-to-action that’s rooted in the right motivation with sustainable compassion. Resistance imbued with Dharma.

I am just a basic, ordinary human after all, plagued by the same mental poisons we all share, so who am I to speak on such subjects?

Luckily, during a dissociative threads doom-scrolling session I came across a post from the head lama at the in Kansas City, Lama Matthew Palden Gocha, who provides a wonderful commentary on Resistance Embodying the Bodhisattva Spirit and implementing the Six Paramitas ( generosity, ethical conduct, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, wisdom) into our actions.

Lama teaches that it’s important to not just work towards alleviating the suffering in the world but to also transform our own hearts and minds in the process - for in understanding our shared humanity and interconnectedness, our resistance becomes more than a reaction - it becomes a mindful, sustained commitment to alleviating suffering and building a more just and compassionate society for all.

🙏🪷🙏

———

Read Lamas full statement at the link in my bio, or scroll past the photos to the screenshots in this post!

———
22x30”
Watercolour ink on Fabriano Aquarelle

02/13/2025

In a rare sight, deep in the rocky hills of the French Alps, the renowned yogi and Dharma artist, Lama Tashi Mannox - Tibetan Calligrapher emerges from the caverns of his posh retreat village to bask in the last rays of the suns energy.

Situated near the village of Oppedette, high above the gorge, lies Le Grand Banc, where the yogi instructs a small group of students in the sacred geometry of the Tibetan Uchen script.

An auspicious occasion to bear witness of not just a great yogi, but a true ambassador of the pen.

The yogi, recalling his experience, explained that “by writing, learning to write again, really puts us in touch with the earth. It puts us in touch with the heavens and the earth. It’s connecting these two together. It’s a really great joy and practice learning to write, and keeping this tradition alive.”

The next such retreat is set for this coming October, 2025! Click the link below for info on joining lama in an immersive Tibetan calligraphy retreat in Provence, France!

https://tashimannox.com/event/tibetan-calligraphy-meditation-retreat-in-provence/

Luke Townsend-Photographer

05/13/2025

04/29/2025

04/26/2025

04/22/2025

04/21/2025

04/21/2025

04/20/2025

04/16/2025

04/13/2025

03/12/2025

03/12/2025

02/13/2025

Address

Opening Hours

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm