Lotus & Silk Weaving ~ Inle Lake, Burma
Inle Lake is home to a unique micro-industry of textile weaving using fibers from lotus reeds. About 200 people from two villages work in this industry and produce a beautiful range of fabrics in lotus and silk blends. Not to be missed if you’re heading to Burma soon.
Shwedagon Pagoda
Towering over the ramshackle streets of Yangon and drawing the city to it like a colossal golden spaceship, Shwedagon Pagoda is the foremost sacred site of Burma and one of the most spectacular temples of the Buddhist world. The Shwedagon complex radiates positive energy and tranquility, and the effect is magical, if not completely hypnotic. [...]
On the Verge…
Burma’s street life is fascinating, especially in Yangon. Most of these images are from my last day there…nothing too special, except perhaps the image above of the little girl in the back seat of the bus. It’s one of the city’s old buses from the 1940s, apparently from Israel, with gaping holes in the wooden [...]
Back from Burma!
Another wonderful trip! Less traveling, physical stress and photo work this time. More bicycle rides in the countryside, eating well and enjoying every amazing moment there. Bless the Burmese! Perhaps the kindest people on Earth. Hopefully that won’t fade away as the country opens to tourists (and all their bizarre, often totally insensitive behavior). When [...]
Inle Lake
Situated in Burma’s Shan state, Inle Lake is a long, shallow body of freshwater situated at 2,900 feet above sea level, surrounded by lush hills and inhabited by about 150,000 people. The largest ethnic group of Inle Lake are the Intha, meaning “Sons of the Lake,” a Tibeto-Burmese people who migrated from Burma’s southern Mon [...]
Kyaiktiyo Pagoda (Golden Rock)
Kyaiktiyo (pronounced like Chai-tea-O) Pagoda is the third most sacred site of the “Golden Land” of Burma, after Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon and Mahamuni Temple in Mandalay. According to legend, a hair relic of the Buddha holds this massive boulder in its precarious position. Located in a beautiful jungle forest region in Burma’s southern Mon [...]
Pa-O Style
The Pa-O women of Burma’s Shan state are known for their strength and beauty, and not surprisingly they have a great style of dress to match! It consists of a lunghi (skirt), a sleeveless shift blouse with a v-neck in front and back, and a long sleeved, crop-length jacket with a short, stand-up collar. The [...]
The 8,000 Buddhas of Pindaya Cave
The Pindaya Cave in Burma’s Shan state is home to over 8,000 Buddha statues. The oldest statues and inscriptions are from the 18th century, but the site probably dates back further than that. There are about 70 images of the Bhisakkaguru tradition (late 18th century) that are styled differently than the other Buddha images found [...]
Walking Meditation
A number of monks and yogis do walking meditation at Shwedagon Pagoda. It’s extremely slow, deliberate walking in a state of meditation, and sometimes along a specific path and using prayer beads, like the yogi in this photo was doing. Yogis can be male or female, and they are not monastics but are on a [...]
Hillary Clinton @ Shwedagon Pagoda
It was my first day back in Burma and I was one of the first to arrive at Shwedagon Pagoda in anticipation of H.C.’s scheduled visit at 4:30 PM. This was the first time a U.S. Secretary of State has visited Burma in 50 years. By the time H.C. arrived at around six the place [...]
High Road to Taos
Here are my three favorite images from a recent trip to Santa Fe to photograph its historic churches: St. Francis of Asis church at Taos, painted and photographed beautifully by many artists for its architecture (in the New Mexico light) Ceiling of San José de Gracia church at Las Trampas, decorated with 18th century designs [...]
Love, Burma
“Where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.” — Joseph Campbell 10 Things I Love About Burma The Sounds of Silence — How is it that every place I go in [...]
Inle Lake Fisherman
Falling in love with this guy, photographically speaking, was not hard to do. The fisherman of Inle Lake are famous for this balletic, one-legged rowing style.
Don’t I know you from somewhere?
I felt like I knew this couple or recognized their connection with each other. It was a Sunday afternoon at Shwedagon Pagoda and people were hanging out all over the place. These two radiated something special. Love I suppose…
Angkor Rice Farming
Angkor is the world’s most extensive medieval hydraulic city and the cultivation of rice around the temples continues today. Monsoon rains start the short, intense planting season in summer. The lands are flat and the work is hard, all done by humans and animals. The farmers grow enough rice for themselves to eat for the [...]
Apsaras & Devatas
Apsaras and devatas are the two types of females represented at the Angkor temples. Apsaras are the nymph-like temple dancers and devatas are the statuesque temple guardians. Nearly 2,000 of them decorate Angkor Wat, and many more grace the temples Bayon, Ta Prohm, Banteay Srey, etc. The most striking thing about them is their humanity. [...]
Morning Alms
A familiar sight across Southeast Asia is the early morning alms round of the Buddhist monks. The monks walk door-to-door in the areas around their monasteries asking for their daily sustenance. Traditionally rice is given, and today people also give packaged noodles, juice, money, etc. The monks recite some text before the donors, who are [...]
Butterfly Sanctuary
The Banteay Srey Butterfly Center is the largest netted butterfly enclosure in SE Asia. Big beautiful butterflies are all over Angkor but it’s great to see them in a garden setting where they’re fluttering from flower to flower. If you’re ever on the road from Siem Reap to Banteay Srey, it’s definitely worth a stop.
IKTT Reviving Cambodian Ikat
On the outskirts of Siem Reap nestled away in a tropical forest, the enlightened Institute of Khmer Traditional Textiles (IKTT) is working to restore and preserve Cambodia’s silk textile traditions. The Khmer Rouge all but obliterated the country’s artisans during the 1970s, including its weavers who produced silk ikat, one of the world’s most complex [...]
Apsara Dance
One day at Angkor Wat I stumbled onto a rare performance of traditional Apsara dance at the temple and happily photographed away. Apsaras are female spirits or celestial nymphs in Hindu and Buddhist mythologies. They’re young, beautiful, magical and, not surprisingly, excellent dancers. Apsara dances tell classical myths inspired by the Cambodian version of the [...]
Angkor Portrait
This is one of my favorite portraits from Cambodia so far. The colors and light aren’t special, but the woman is. It was a Sunday afternoon and she was alone, watching the busloads of tourists entering Angkor Wat. She’s probably a rice farmer who lives in the area surrounding the Angkor temples. She was wonderfully [...]
I Dream of Angkor
Oh, the years I’ve waited to see Ankgor! Even though half the world and practically every photographer have visited these temples already, and even though it’s sometimes as crowded as an Asian theme park, that doesn’t detract from the experience of being here and soaking it all up. It’s truly magnificent. I love how it’s [...]
Anokhi Factory
The clothing retailer Anokhi is one of my favorite things about India. A trip to one of their shops brightens even the worst day in Delhi. Not only are their block printed clothes and other textiles beautifully designed and tailored, they actually run a socially and environmentally ethical business. Before leaving India I visited their [...]
