Monk’s view of the Festival

My guest photographer today is Kaw Wi Da, a novice monk at the Tat Ein Monastery in Shan State, Myanmar. The photo above is his self portrait. The rest of the photos are ones that he took at the balloon festival in Taunggyi last month. This was the first time that Kaw Wi Da had ever used a camera. After giving him a quick tutorial, I turned the camera over to him and let him loose, only stopping periodically to give some pointers or grab back the Canon to take a few shots myself. Kaw Wi Da was a quick learner and seemed especially captivated by the camera’s zoom function. Look out girls; he’s sneaking up on you! I enjoyed watching the various animal-shaped balloons floating up, up and away at the festival that afternoon, but I also got a kick out of watching Kaw Wi Da and his friends have a thoroughly enjoyable time.

Classroom Portraits

My guest photographer today is Pyin Na Thiri, a novice monk at the Tat Ein Monastery in Shan State, Myanmar. The photo above is his self portrait. One of the teachers at the village’s primary school suggested one day that we take photos of all the students. To help keep this photo session orderly (Quite often when I take photos at the school, some of the boys will jump around, trying to jostle for position in front of the lens, and things get out of control!), she had the students sit in groups of two or three to pose for their picture. I asked my new photography assistant, Pyin Na Thiri, to help me take care of this task. The photos below are ones that he took of his classmates at the school, both during the sitting sessions, and later in the classroom.