Born into wealth and privilege, photographer Nicholas Vreeland (son of Ambassador Frederick Vreeland and grandson of acclaimed fashion editor Diana Vreeland) abandoned his former life in 1985 to become a Buddhist monk. Naturally, this involved giving up frivolous material possessions (and hair), but there's always been one item he's never been able to put down: his camera. Photography has been an important part of both lives: as a young man, Nicholas loved the work of Irving Penn and studied film, and a 1979 trip to India led to a job documenting the 14th Dalai Lama's first trip to North America. The fact that one of his passions directly led to this new spiritual path has ensured that photography will remain a lifelong pursuit. Sales of his work even financed the rebuilding of India's Rato Monastery.

Naturally, any life story that involves such a drastic U-turn is ripe for the documentary genre, so it's not surprising that Guido Santi and Tina Mascara's Monk With A Camera (2014) has little trouble detailing the man's life in a linear, easy-to-follow manner. Vreeland himself is front and center during most of this 90-minute production, offering candid observations and personal details that shed light on his usual life path. He's humble about most of the details, of course, while family and friends (including devout Buddhist Richard Gere) are on hand to fill in some of the blanks. Brief animation, vintage photographs, home movies, and more break up some of the talking-head interviews, which also include scenes featuring the 14th Dalai Lama and Khyongla Rinpoche, a former teacher of Vreeland's (and current "free man") who delights in puttering around his house and playing with his toy collection.

More often than not, Monk With A Camera shares one sentiment with its central figure: it feels content and relaxed, with much of its running time devoted to casual and candid conversations with Vreeland about his former and current lives. This doesn't necessarily translate to a gripping or immediate viewing experience, but it's more than pleasant enough to devote 90 minutes to. Simply watching Nicholas go about his business, polished Birkenstock sandals peeking out from under his red robe, reveals a man content with his new path in life. He seems affable, calm, and removed from his busy surroundings in Manhattan...but not completely, because some habits are hard to break.

Monk With A Camera arrives on DVD courtesy of Kino Lorber's "Alive Mind" imprint; like the film, it's passable but feels very much part of the same molds as countless other like-minded documentaries. Featuring a decent A/V presentation and a few light but well-meaning extras, it provides a capable amount of support without feeling too overstuffed.

Presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio, the digitally-shot Monk With A Camera looks pretty average on DVD. To be fair, I'd imagine it represents the source material pretty well: there's a definite softness and mild smearing on display, which are typical problems for footage shot on anything but the most sophisticated digital equipment. Colors are accurate but a little muddy, while shadow detail is limited. Still photos look better in comparison, while close-ups reveal a pleasing amount of image detail and texture. Older videotaped clips, obviously shot in 1.33:1 format, have unfortunately been cropped to fill the 16x9 frame and their source weaknesses are amplified as a result. So while this certainly isn't a visual stunner, it's still pretty much on par with most lower-budget documentaries.

The audio is available in either Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or Dolby 2.0 Stereo, both of which have no trouble serving up a passable presentation. Dialogue is relatively clear; though no optional subtitles or captions are included during the film, the occasional bits of Tibetan dialogue feature burned-in subs. The music is mixed well and, along with a few moments of background noise, serves as one of the only instances of occasional surround activity.

Monk With A Camera is a pleasant enough documentary about an interesting subject, offering a mixture of first-person narrative, historical perspective, and modern-day observations that gels together nicely. There's a limited amount of replay here, though: it doesn't dig very deep below the surface and, though we get to know Vreeland and company fairly well during the course of this 90-minute film, it's done so in a relatively traditional connect-the-dots fashion employed by hundreds of other similar documentaries. Still, the story is worth seeking out for first-time viewers, and Kino Lorber's DVD offers a passable A/V presentation and few brief but thoughtful supplements. It's probably not a keeper, but Monk With A Camera is definitely worth a once-over for interested parties. Rent It.