Hello everybody, my name is Michael and I am new member to this forum, I learned about this forum earlier today when I visited Dale Photo & Digital in South Florida and the friendly employee told me about this forum……I am a Leica user and I live in Bangkok and I do a lot of photography (work) in South/South East Asia.
anyways here are some photos from Myanmar…
a couple more from Myanmar…..
a couple more…everything was shot on an M6ttl/M2/M3 and I used Kodak Pro Image 100 film….
cheers, michael
Welcome, Michael! I’ve enjoyed your photos on RFF, a lot of cultural interest. Fascinated by some of the Myanmar work… but a question: What is the story behind the white paint (?) smeared on the faces?
Michael, good to have you here. You are definitely an enrichment of this place. 😉
Doug;2959 wrote: Welcome, Michael! I’ve enjoyed your photos on RFF, a lot of cultural interest. Fascinated by some of the Myanmar work… but a question: What is the story behind the white paint (?) smeared on the faces?
Hi Doug, thanks a lot, it’s good to see someone here from RFF…… The story behind the Thanaka (white paint) is this, it is made from tree bark and then it is grounded down on clay tablets and a little water is added to it and the Burmese apply to it their faces and sometimes arms….It is used by both males and females…..I have been told a couple of different reasons on why they use it…some have told me that it protects them from the sun, others have said that it makes their skin soft and some have told me that they use it to enhance their beauty (sort of like make-up).
I have never seen it used in any other country and I have been to all the countries that border Myanmar…..I live in Bangkok and Thai people use baby powder on their faces (sometimes foreigners think it is Thanaka, but it’s not)….actually some Burmese living in Thailand (on the border) use Thanaka but to the best of my knowledge it is something that only the Burmese use.
Cheers, michael
Here is an “extreme” example where I believe it was used more as a cosmetic.
Pete Walentin;2961 wrote: Michael, good to have you here. You are definitely an enrichment of this place. 😉
Hey thanks a lot Pete, I appreciate that comment…..I hope to contribute, learn and be inspired by other forum members here….I am grateful to Kirsten who works at Dale Photo & Digital for telling me about this forum yesterday….
cheers, michael
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