Without an H

Portraits taken on the street in Yangon. I call them Yangon street portraits.

Another collection of street portraits, taken over the last few months in Yangon.

Cowboy hats are not a common sight in Yangon; he told me that he wears it because he is an admirer of all things American.

Thanaka, a natural sunscreen made from tree bark, is far more common. She sells bird food for passersby to give to the nearby hordes of pigeons.

I wrote in my last post that Yangon lends itself to colour photography. I think the portraits in this series would work in black and white, but I like the deep reds and blues.

This is the second installment of my hopefully continuing Yangon street portraits series. When I used to take this kind of close-up portrait in Hanoi, with my 85mm lens, I always shot in black and white, but there’s something about Yangon that seems to demand to be photographed in colour. So, for now at least, colour it is.

I came across these two tough guys outside one of Yangon’s many construction sites one October morning. Often the most unwelcoming looking people end up being the best subjects for photographs. People are nice, as it turns out.