Rangoon Abstract

Girls with Umbrellas

Rangoon, Burma 2011 

We got to Rangoon (Yangon) a day early so we could rest from our long flight. But I couldn’t sleep. I took my camera and went out to explore the hotel garden. It was lush, hot and humid… just the way Burma should be. The hotel was on a lake that the locals crossed by means of a foot bridge. I saw four girls carrying umbrellas walk across the bridge. Some of the girls wore longyis, but the others wore western clothes. They all carried umbrellas. Immediately, my mind went to a stereotypical view of Asia. 

 I ignored this shot until yesterday. I had too many shots that needed very little to make them perfect or nearly perfect. But yesterday, this shot spoke to me. I spent an hour or so transforming this into the abstract you see here. For me the colors make picture. They say tropical. And the image looks like a piece of silk. There are new print papers that are supposed to look like fabric or watercolor paper. I’m going to get some and I’ll let you know how they turn out.