I’m the quintessential point-and-shoot photographer. I don’t know how to factor in light, except perhaps for the oh-so-obvious backlighting issue when snapping photos. My dear friend (who happens to be an extremely talented photographer), Tracy has given me a few tips over the years, but truthfully, when I see something memorable, I just click away. Here are some of my favorites from my trip to Burma in March.
I spent a few hours walking around a small village near Bagan, an ancient city renowned for having over 3,000 buddhist temples and pagodas. I stopped by a home where folks were making tractor wheels, shelling peanuts, and selling handwoven longyis (traditional Burmese clothing). As I sat drinking tea and looking over the longyis, this grandmother joined me with her grandson. She proceeded to roll a cheroot, a cigar filled with tobacco rolled into dry corn husks. I had not seen many children with cleft lips in Burma, and immediately asked my guide if there were organizations like Operation Smile that operated in Burma. He said yes, they go to Yangon, but the chances were slim that this child was going to have an operation. This photo seemed to capture both of their expressions in such a way that really touched me.
Sagaing Hill is a must-see when visiting Burma. U Min Thonze pagoda, pictured above, is just one of the many pagodas located high on this hill outside Mandalay. I was lucky, there weren’t too many people here when I visited. I could feel the calm and peacefulness that this place naturally exudes.
Burmese people are some of the warmest, most welcoming people I have ever encountered in my travels. They were curious about outsiders, since visitors are fairly new to their country. They were quick to welcome me into their homes for tea and conversation (sometimes only communicating with hand signals, lots of smiling and awkward laughter). I didn’t initiate this wave of hello, they did.