monk (noun): a member of a religious community of men typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

As a society, we don’t picture monks as having many material possessions. By definition, they aren’t supposed to. A traditional Buddhist monk is allowed only four items other than their robes: a razor, a needle, an alms bowl and a water strainer. But Nicholas Vreeland owns a camera. He starred in a documentary. He travels all over the world, rubbing shoulders with celebrity friends, and stays in nice hotels. Monk With a Camera (2014) shows us a view of monkhood that goes against tradition. So how does he function as a true monk? Is he even a true monk?

First, Monk With a Camera does realize these outward hypocrisies. It calls them out right from the start. One of the first things Vreeland says in the film is “Let me introduce you to my girlfriend,” a joke referencing his camera, and one that draws attention to the traditionally inappropriate nature of his possession.

Vreeland had an upper-class upbringing and made the transition to monkhood after spending his early years in high society, making important friends, and establishing a name for himself. Now he’s a fully ordained Tibetan Buddhist monk who is the abbot of Rato Dratsang Monastery, appointed the position by the Dalai Lama, and is the first westerner to ever serve such an important role of authority in Tibetan Buddhism. The only reason the monastery Vreeland serves exists is because he was able to globally display and sell his photographs for $400,000, the amount of funds lacking prior to the monastery construction.

Vreeland, the filmmakers, and (apparently) even the Dalai Lama are attempting to show how traditional Tibetan Buddhist concepts and principles are shifting into modernism. There’s an awareness of certain realities in today’s world, and they are trying to embrace them into Buddhist tradition. The fact Vreeland takes photographs (and owns a camera at all) is accepted because he utilizes the craft to benefit people, and benefit Buddhism. The fact he was appointed abbot of Rato Dratsang over other more-qualified Tibetans was to help bridge India with the western world, something Vreeland has the societal status and connections to do.

The film does make it evident that Vreeland has reservations about photography every time he picks up a camera, but it’s an inborn passion to him, and he works to balance his desire to photograph with ways to use it for the benefit of Buddhism.

Someone in the documentary makes a blanket statement about art, roughly saying it’s impossible to create any kind of art without ego. Whether you’re a painter or a sculptor or a photographer, you can’t create art and showcase your work to others without, on some level, fueling your own ego and putting yourself into the piece. Ego boosting should not be part of a monk’s lifestyle, and that’s another issue Vreeland claims to be dealing with.