Back in May, I had yet another opportunity to travel to Maui and do the summer fashion shoot for the Shops at Wailea. I also got to edit three short social media videos from the shoot. All photos taken at the Andaz resort in Wailea.
Areas where people live on the water fascinate me. Other than some general research, I didn't really know what to expect from Inle Lake. I knew that we would have to hire a tour guide for the day to take us around, and they have specific spots where they take tourists. Myanmar is in this stage where these destinations are becoming more touristy, but it's still a very raw and for the most part, untouched. There aren't an people trying to sell selfie sticks, there aren't any kiosks selling trinkets or hot dog food stands. It's a UNESCO site, but tour companies haven't taken over yet. Reservations aren't a thing yet, so In the early morning, we showed up at the dock, found a guy to be our guide, paid him $20 cash and he took us around for the day.
I knew I wanted to do short little interviews with the people we visited along the way since we had our translator with us for this trip. I was genuinely interested in knowing if these people liked the tourists (like me) and weather it was benefiting their lives. I love to travel, see new places and see how different people live. But I always feel a little bit of guilt, like I'm kind of a visual burden for the locals and maybe disrupting their quality of life. I felt like this was the perfect context to ask these questions and make a video about it.
I was in awe of this place and the community this culture built on stilts. I was amazed to see electrical poles, post office, construction, etc. It's definitely a hidden gem of the world, and I highly recommend visiting.
I wanted to explore the idea of the journey being the inspiration, not necessarily the destination.
In the city center of Yangon, motorbikes are banned. In Dala, a massive impoverished township, people are too poor to own cars, and even if they did, the streets are not wide enough to drive or park them. For anyone that's been to SE Asia, you know that motorbikes are the main mode of transportation for the working class. The only public transportation that goes from one side to the other is the Ferry. Not being able to easily get into the city center, where all the opportunities are, makes it particularly challenging to better one-self.
For this video production, we had a very small crew. Myself, Dan, my field producer, Ansley, and a translator. We found Ye Wint Aung, a university student that takes 5 modes of transportation to the university for his education in language and poetry. I wanted to explore his mindset and experience of this, so we woke up at 4, got to his place, and did the commute with him. In the edit, I wanted the mood of this arduous commute conveyed as well as glimpses of inspiration and how this experience is shaping him in his formative years. If he is putting this much effort into his education, just think of what he will do with his life!