I think of myself as an image collector, hence the title. The closest I come to a selfie is usually a shot of my shadow. I try to get at least one wherever I go. This one is actually just outside Mandalay, last October.
Tag Archives: Burma
Grinding Out Buddhas
In the marble carving district of Mandalay, this young man and dozens like him spend their days covered in marble dust. Most of the Buddhas carved here are destined for wealthy monasteries in China. The workers, on the other hand, will likely never leave Mandalay.
Dancing With Abandon
Revelers dance to beat-heavy music at the Thadingyut Festival in Hsipaw, Myanmar.
Southeast Asian Dragonflies
The first five of these were all found withing 30 ft of each other in the hills above Hsipaw. The last one was in the floating gardens of Inle Lake. I spotted but was unable to photograph, at least as many additional varieties.
Still Farming The Old-Fashioned Way
With animals and child labor. Myanmar resides simultaneously in the 19th and 21st centuries. I guarantee you that this kid plowing the field with two oxen and a hand made plow has a cell phone in his pocket. Still, Myanmar has a labor intensive economy. Instead of a truck pumping concrete to pour the second floor of a new hotel, you will find a complex, multi-tiered scaffold with 30 men heaving one bucket at a time up to the top. Very little is done the easy way here, but on the other side of the coin, almost no-one is unemployed.
Shrine To An Unidentified Goddess
Pindaya, Myanmar
Calling Sarah Connor
Yangon, Myanmar
Gold Pounders Making Music In Mandalay
Millions of Buddhists across Southeast Asia display their devotion by adding small bits of gold leaf to statues of the Buddha, some of which are venerated beyond recognition, with several inches of gold coating them. Much of this gold leaf is manufactured by hand in Mandalay. A small ingot is first rolled through a press, then pounded paper thin by young men with wooden mallets. Then it is cut into squares by women in the next room, layered between paper, and pounded again. The process is repeated, I believe three times, to produce the very thin leaf which can be bought and applied to the Buddha of one’s choice. I was particularly taken by the melodic rhythm produced by the mallets.
Two Shrines In Hsipaw
Shrines have always attracted me, being not just focal points for worship or remembrance, but also works of art. Each has its own character, elements, offerings, and purpose. There is usually a sense of balance, even if the shrine is chaotic. Buddhist shrines tend to be simpler than Catholic shrines, but all vary from region to region. These two are from Hsipaw, in the Shan state of Myanmar.
The lower image is hanging in the gallery now. The upper will be added in January.
Launch
A cormorant takes flight at Inle Lake in Myanmar.
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