Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Nyaung Shwe, Shan State, Myanmar. October 2016

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When I first thought of visiting Myanmar, inspired by my brother’s visit there, I knew nothing about the country except that it had been largely isolated from the wider world due to a strict military regime. When I thought of the place all I could see in my mind’s eye was greyness. No colour, no sound, no smiles, no stories; just greyness.

There is a lot of colour bursting to show itself through the grey haze. Golden stupas (Buddhist shrines) rise out of the ground, markets with fruit and vegetables of all hues rise out of the concrete and dirt, people in brightly coloured outfits rise early from their simple homes with smiles. Colour is energy and Myanmar is full of it.

Boats are used dailyin Nyaung Shwe and as such have potential to dissapear into the background. The boatmen ensure their water craft don’t dissapear by painting them in bright primary colours. All the colours of the rainbow. The paint protects and attracts; the paint is a technicolour coat.

My eyes and my camera smile at such colour, happy to take in all its frequencies and fun. Often I take many photographs of the one thing hoping that amongst them is a non blurry, focused picture. This doesn’t always work out. In this instance though it was simple. The colour and the lines were there bold and bright and only needed one click to be captured.

I like this picture because the details don’t really matter. The form is simple and the colours bright. It is basic, it doesn’t need to be thought about or analysed. It just is