Religious Goods Shop, Chinatown, Yangon, Myanmar, 2005
This young woman sells all kinds of religious paraphernalia -- including fans and cushions used by monks. In this particular image, the subject is very conscious of the camera and seems to enjoy the attention. She had been facing away from me. She turned around, saw me, and gave me a big smile. I like the way she extends all her fingers on the bench. That hand is full of tension and energy. The colorful items around her are incongruous, exotic and unfamiliar, the dark doorway promises more of the same inside. The woman’s youth and enthusiasm make this image succeed as expression.
Family Housewares Stall, Ananda Festival, Bagan, Myanmar, 2005
Every January, a festival is held to raise money for the upkeep of Bagan’s thousand-year-old Ananda temple. A tent city of stalls and shops surrounds the temple. Among the participants is this family who sells housewares. In itself, a picture of a housewares stall is hardly a candidate to produce an expressive travel picture. But when I saw three heads incongruously sticking up amidst the mass of containers, I knew I had an incongruous image in terms of abstraction, scale, age, and appearance. The placement of the sales counter in the middle of the display virtually drowns the salespeople in a sea of silver. Only their heads are visible. And one of those heads is that of a very happy young child. Both the child and his mother cover their faces in Thanaka, the yellow skin paste that is unique to Burma – a final incongruity that relates this picture to its location.
Chinese New Year Treats, Chinatown, Yangon, Myanmar, 2005
Much of a marketplace is devoted to food. What makes this food particularly expressive is its presentation. It is food fit for a celebration, filling fancy bowls and topped by sticks of burning incense. To give the food context, I placed a very pleased but reserved vendor right behind it, in soft focus. He looks right at us, as if to say, “enjoy.” A study of the detail even shows the lighter he used to start all that incense burning.