Images of Our World

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Myanmar | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | 5 photos

I am a self-taught photographer who has been seriously traveling and shooting for almost 20 years. Until 2001, I made my living as a machinist for General Electric Co. A periodic victim of “downsizing”, many of my travels were accomplished during periods of layoff from GE. I have visited about 50 countries on 5 continents.

I left GE in 2001 on a partial disability, and have been trying to show, promote, and sell my work ever since. I have won some awards, and do sell some work, but am still forced to rely mainly on my retirement funds and small pension for my living. As a 64 year old photographer getting a VERY late start, I could benefit tremendously from doing an assignment with a working professional.

My 5 images are from Myanmar (Burma). With its large number of ethnic groups, striking Buddhist culture, and longstanding political isolation, it remains extremely traditional in a way that seems to me unmatched by any of the other countries in Southeast Asia (I have visited most). My Myanmar “story”, like most of my work focused on Africa, Asia and Latin America, tries to provide an unusual view--intimate, socially aware, and highly “visual”--of the daily lives, customs, and often-breath-taking surroundings, of the people of the country. In contrast to much typical “Third World” photojournalism, which often tends to focus on misery, poverty, and war, I want to present another side of life in places like Myanmar: a picture of the everyday lives of working people in these very different cultural settings that is both candid and evocative; that avoids “exoticizing”, patronizing, or pitying, but, rather, conveys the elements of beauty, creativity, and dignity in their daily work, creations, family lives, and rituals.