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Three-storey Mayangone villa

MAYANGONE township is the setting for this three-storey villa with oodles of space and mainstream taste. The pillar- and balcony-heavy façade gives a strong indication of what lies inside- more

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Myanmar photographer awarded prize

WINNERS of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Interfaith Cultural Photography Contest were announced earlier this month, with Myanmar photographer La Minn Naing picking up a complimentary prize.

Competitors in the competition had a choice of three themes: people of different faiths interacting in their daily lives; festivals related to different faiths but attended by everyone; and religious sites located in areas where a religion’s followers are a minority, but where the followers can enjoy their rights to practise their religion freely.

Photographer La Minn Naing, 31, chose to compete in the first category.

“It was very difficult for me because I had never done this kind of theme before. Also, we only found out about the contest deadline very late and so had just half a day to take the photo for the contest. I got up early and went to Sule Pagoda about 6am,” he said.

“I fed doves as I wanted to include them in the photo to illustrate peace even though they are black doves [pigeons]. I also needed to wait until some people came to cross the road to give my photo more life,” explained the photographer.

Photographers in Myanmar are increasingly relying on the internet to find out about international photography competitions.

“The internet helps us find information. Whenever we know about a contest we share it with each other on Facebook or through email with friends. The more opportunities we have to get involved in international contests, the more we can improve our skills and knowledge,” said La Minn Naing.

Unfortunately the Myanmar photography community found out about the competition a little late this year.

“Because we received the [contest] information late we could only inform those in the Myanmar Photographic Society (MPS) and the students of MPS. Even though there were around 50 people who knew about the contest, we only got 12 entries by the deadline,” said U Phay Myint Oo, president of the Myanmar Photographic Society

“Many people couldn’t make the effort to take a photo because of the time limit,” he added.

An exhibition of the photographs will be held in the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre from February 5-14. The Exhibition will display 166 photos taken by Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) nationals from 19 countries.

 

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