Burmese Portraits (Lens Culture Submission)

I took these portraits during a trip to Myanmar in November 2019. This country with its oppressed past but, then, hopeful future made me connect instantly catapulting me into my own bittersweet memories of a childhood spent under a totalitarian regime. 

The connection I felt with this country’s people, most of it at a non-verbal level, was profound and I tried to capture their simple and beautiful ways despite their daily hardships.

The military coup of February 2021 brought a tragic turn into Myanmar's history and made me revisit these portraits. I am looking at ways to support the Burmese pleas for civil rights and freedom, perhaps through creating a book of my images and donating profits to a local civil rights movement organisation. In the meantime, this small series speak to my sentiment.

Unlike any of my studio portraiture, my travel street portraiture is 100% serendipitous and instinct-driven, with only seconds spent to ask for permission and sometimes pose my subjects, retaining, I believe, all the original emotion of that first non-verbal encounter which is stronger than words.

I have decided to submit this selection to the Lens Culture Portrait Awards 2021 and I have received a very helpful submission review which I have decided to include in full in this blog entry for future reference.

Lens Culture Reviewer Portfolio Feedback 

‘Hello Andreea. Thank you for submitting your work. I have very much enjoyed looking at your photographs.

It is a little tragic to look at these photographs considering what is happening in Myanmar at the moment, but this also gives them an added poignancy. 

I think your portraits are very good, and the poise and presence of the people you photograph comes across very strongly. There is a rich sense of empathy, interest and respect in your portraits and this is fantastic. You ask if these images are of a standard for recognition. I think the answer to this question lies in small technical refinements and a general consistency across the images so that their power and presence builds as the viewer looks through them, but on the whole I think they are very close. 

You photograph your subjects well, the area I think you could consider refining a little is the relationship between the person and the background. Consider the environment like a stage in a way, upon which you present the person, but you extract clues and elements to suggest narrative and build on the atmosphere. Let me go through your photographs to expand on these thoughts.

No. 1 - I think this is one of the strongest photographs. The person, the way they sit, and engage with us is just brilliant. The light and atmosphere are very rich. The use of the background is perfect here - there is a real feeling of place, but the space behind the figure is neutral, so there is nothing to clash with their presence and how we engage with them. The little patch of sunlight on his foot is great. Well done, a complete image. 

No. 2 - This is a good example, of the person being good, but the use of the environment/space, not quite as strong as it could be. I think you could either pull back further to show more of the scene, and to make it clear he is rowing his boat, or achieve this by shooting at a slight angle and not straight on, so we see the boat, and the oars. At the moment the position of the figure in the frame, and the gesture with the oars feel slightly awkward.

No. 3 - A great picture and what a remarkable presence, tender yet strong. I wonder if you could have used the environment slightly better and positioned the person in a little more space? They feel a little pushed up against the background? 

No. 4 - Another lovely portrait. The girls are great, the way they stand in their dresses and hold hands is just beautiful. I think the background is good, but I wonder if it could be just that little bit more interesting, and offer a slightly richer sense of context/environment. A small point, but otherwise a great image.

No. 5 - Another great picture. Very moving and symbolic. 

No. 6 - Good. Such a sensitive presence of the person, and we really feel as though we get to meet them.

No. 7 - Another extraordinary face, and a feeling of a person who has seen everything the world has to offer. The composition feels slightly awkward. Partly in relation to our distance to her, and how she sits within the frame. It feels almost like the lower half of her torso disappears in the material. I wonder if you could pull back a little bit more, just a fraction, so we see a bit more of her pose and presence. The other thought is the shelf and items behind her that cut through her head. At the moment they are quite distracting, I would either shift the composition slightly to try and make a gap between her and these items, but maybe given the circumstances a shallower depth of field would have pushed them further into the background, and made her stand out a little more.

I think these are very good, compassionate portraits Andreea. You have a powerful sense of humanity, and how you conduct yourself with this sensitivity and respect comes across really well in the photographs, and that is a tribute to you. I think they are very close to being great. In the future I would just think of the layers involved in constructing a portrait. Think of the body language and gestures of the individual and how to make the most of these. Think of the environment they are in, and how you can draw out traces of this in the angle you position yourself in relation to your subject, and the space you construct around them. Consider also consistency of how the individual sits on their stage, and how the clues to narratives and lives build across the images. Maybe consider one or two still lives and landscapes to set the tone and context for some of the portraits.

You are a very good, and a passionately committed photographer. These images are very close to reaching a sustained and consistently impressive level. I wish you all the very best.

August Sander is a great portrait photographer to revisit if you know him already. Look at how he masters composition, and his use of the environment to present the individuals. Other examples to look at are Joel Sternfeld 'Stranger Passing,' and Rineke Dijkstra.’