BURMA: MEDIUM FORMAT PORTRAITS (2000)

In January 2000 I traveled to Burma for one month to work on the web documentary 'Grace Under Pressure'. It was one of the last projects I shot on film before transitioning to digital. These color transparencies were filed away in a portfolio case for over twenty years before I re-discovered and scanned them in May 2021. 

"There is a deep sadness in Burmese travel; not for the traveler himself, who can come and go as he pleases, but for the Burman who is tied by fear and penury to one place, prevented from unravelling the filaments and strands which have formed his remarkable country. Yet the sadness does not come from the native people, in spite of their bondage. They appear to be free of envy and greed, seem to be at peace with themselves, remain cheerful, modest and happy. They smile, while telling a tragic story of eviction and excecution. Rather the sadness comes from the outsider, the lucky traveller who is allowed to enjoy the places that a resident cannot visit". - Rory Maclean, Under the Dragon 

All Photographs: © Geoffrey Hiller