Quite Unlike Any Land

‘This is Burma’, wrote Rudyard Kipling.
‘It will be quite unlike any land you know about.’

Each day these nuns walked a circuit around the city. McCurry asked if he could walk with them to make photographs. With their consent, he accompanied them for several days, searching for the best light and location. Even without their presence, this residential area could make a colourful image. With their presence, McCurry deliberately sought a rainy day in order to have some control over the level of color in the image. The line of their parasols echoes the yellow horizontal and creates the commentary of an adjacent hue upon the red brick.
– Anthony Bannon

The fishermen of the Inle Lake are famous for the way they paddle their boats using their legs. The conical nets are dropped into the shallow waters to catch the fish.

In the unique watery world of Inle Lake, Intha fisherman row canoes with one leg, gardens float, and wooden homes perch above the water on rickety stilts.
– Catherine Bodry

The Golden Rock is an important Buddhist site. McCurry spent days there determining the best vantage point and time. The picture was taken about 10 minutes after sunset. “The lights which illuminate the rock at night have just been turned on and provide an accent light and shadow on the right.” from ‘Steve McCurry’
– Anthony Bannon

There is a gentleness and an elegance to the Burmese people, and the role that Buddhism plays
in everyday life is very evident.
– Steve McCurry

The stairway is narrow and steep as it climbs a 300-foot lava plug crowned by Buddhist temples. The plug rises from the slope of Mount Popa an extinct volcano, where thousands of pilgrims flock each May to a festival honoring a multitude of terrestrial spirits called nats. Burma’s Buddhists have a healthy respect for the nats, who bestow favors on those who honor them and inflict punishment on non-believers.

Two novice monks head back to their monastery in the late afternoon after doing some errands in the town of Bayon. Bagan, Myanmar, 2010.

I photographed this young child with thanaka on his face in Bagan. Thanaka is a paste made from tree bark, and while often used as decoration, it also provides protection from sunburn. It is applied in patterns and designs.
– Steve McCurry

Earthquakes caused these deep cracks to appear in the incredible Mingun Pagoda. Built to house a relic of the Buddha, the brick structure was originally intended to be over 150 meters tall. However, the technology was not capable of enabling its full construction and so it reaches 30 meters. Framed by the massive entrance, three monks are seen climbing the crumbling steps.

An Intha fisherman paddles his boat on Inle Lake in Burma/Myanmar. The Intha fishermen of Inle Lake, a highland freshwater lake, are famous for the way they paddle their boats using their legs.
Some Intha people live at the edge of the lake, but others grow vegetables in floating gardens and live
in houses on stilts.

Join Steve McCurry on a nine-day photography workshop and take your photography skills to the next level.  Steve will be leading a workshop in Burma from
February 19th to 27th, 2021.