Burmese From Myanmar, The Unknown People (BURMA) :
Portraits of Burmese in black and white
> > > Burmese from Myanmar (complete gallery pictures)
SYNOPSIS :
“Burma”: Historical name, given through colonization.
“Myanmar”: Current name, given by the current government.
Through the international media, the world often sees Burma (or Myanmar) only in extreme circumstances, such as
monks rising against an authoritative government (through General Than Shwe) or in devastating natural disasters.
Of course Burmese censure in this barely accessible country is contributing largely to the specific and excessive
media coverage of extreme events. At the tourist level a limited visa to 28 days in Myanmar as well as difficult
climatic, transport, and accomodation conditions are limiting the traveller in Burma to a superficial appreciation of
the Burmese life conditions. This photographic project finds its origin in a simple statement of fact:
Western countries do not know Burma and Burmeses.
What about this population of fifty million Burmeses, of their lifestyles, their fears, their aspirations? But particularly
what must these people face in their daily life, and how do they manage it with such a system which has lasted
nearly 50 years? ...
This social and political oppression in Myanmar is curiously difficult to define and feel for non-
Burmese people. It should of course be considered that foreigner journalists as much as tourists are travelling in
Burma only in 'permitted areas' (about half the country). But even in those permitted areas, one cannot see a police
officer or a soldier at each street corner in Burma, one cannot see people dying all around, one cannot see real daily
authority repressions or demonstrations... In brief, we are officially in a dictatorship and even if the brightest
expression of this lies in the speech and the suffering of the Burmeses themselves, the visual symptoms of this
dictatorship remain almost invisible to the foreigner's glance. But those visual symptoms do exist. They just are not
so obvious. If you want to see them it is required to stop and observe, in order to question yourself so as to question
better the others. So then all these symptoms will slowly reveal the latent character of this disease which has gently
corroded the Burmeses in their daily lives for such a long time, frustrating their blooming and opening desires, and
exerting on them an insidious, but real pressure. That explains somehow too the strength of the protest movements
which Burma knew in Sept. 2007 (but especially before in 1988). 'It is a water which explodes because it cannot boil
more'.
Obviously, resistance is present in Myanmar. A resistance made in the image of the exerted pressures: moral, subtle,
discrete. From Buddhist teachings to the artistic expression (so controlled can it be), allegory, poetry, irony and
humour are the Burmeses' weapons to defend themselves, to express their resistance, at least among themselves.
This expression has no limit.
ABOUT PIERRE TORSET - PHOTOGRAPHE IN POITIERS :
Based in Poitiers, the photographer Pierre Torset is sharing his time between some documentary photography and photo-journalism by offering picture stories and reportage to the Press and Edition sector (magazine, newspapers, agencies) in both social and tourism issues. He is also working as a local photographer in France, mainly by doing corporate pictures in France and in Poitiers (hometown).
You can find more about his work in the Stories Index or in the Visitors Page for a quick overview of his work, by clicking here > Photographe Poitiers (choose English Version, then VISITORS Page). More external links about his work in the Contact Page.
Pour voir les reportages (avec présentation et légendes) en français > > > 