Simultaneously messy and tidy this photograph captures the energy and intricacy of thangka painting when children are wielding the brush. Photographer Julie O'Connor shot this photo at a small orphanage where the children were learning traditional Tibetan cultural skills. "It is a joyful image" says Ms. O'Connor, and so it is.

Julie O'Connor is a fine art photographer who has travelled the world for 25 years collecting images. Her work has appeared in Time, the New York Times and New York Magazine.  She "seeks out the details that capture the visual mysteries and surprises of ancient cultures and traditional peoples."

Process: Iris print, archival printing.

Dimensions: 11" by 14" image printed on 16" by 24" Arches paper