Nick De Marco Posted April 18, 2009 Share #1 Posted April 18, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) This, next completed gallery in my Myanmar series, is in my opinion the best of them. I took the series of portraits of the young novices of Kamma Kyawi Monastery in Bagan on two separate days. It was obvious from the first shoot there were going to be some striking images here and so I arranged another afternoon in the monastery a couple of days later to take some more of the novices (in the first shoot I had taken 4 of the novices to one of the Pagodas of Bagan). Not one of the novices had been photographed before, let alone posed for staged photos, as most of these are. They spoke no English and me no Barma. They after a few first difficult minutes they became some of the best and most natural models you could work with, they became quite easy to direct, and they loved the excitement of being photographed which was good. I think their faces have a strange mixture of innocence and pain or contemplation which makes them most interesting. All of these photos were taken using only natural night which in Myanmar was so great it is hard to think it could be improved by studio lighting. I'm most grateful to the novices of of Kamma Kyawi and their Chief Monk who made these photos possible. Please take a look at the gallery. The photos are taken with a Leica M6 with 35 Summicron with high contrast red filter and Tri X and with a Canon 5D Mark II with a couple of Canon lenses (35 f1.4L and 135 f2L) but mostly (and I think the best ones) with the cheap but wonderful old Olympus Zuiko 50mm f1.8 manual lens. Novices of Bagan Photo Gallery by Nick De Marco at pbase.com Thanks for looking Nick Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 18, 2009 Posted April 18, 2009 Hi Nick De Marco, Take a look here Novices of Bagan. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
semrich Posted April 18, 2009 Share #2 Posted April 18, 2009 And you were correct about it being obvious, these are striking photos. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick De Marco Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share #3 Posted April 19, 2009 Thanks. One more Novices of Bagan Photo Gallery by Nick De Marco at pbase.com Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted April 19, 2009 Share #4 Posted April 19, 2009 Nick - Superb, both the set here and the site page. I'm glad you went back. You also clearly discovered that the people are remarkably open and warm. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick De Marco Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share #5 Posted April 20, 2009 Thanks Stuart. The people of Burma are indeed very warm. I would encourage everyone to go (but independently, not as part of a tour). I have decided to go back this Autumn, to take more photos, and I expect to return to this monastery too. Nick Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wls.shanghai Posted April 20, 2009 Share #6 Posted April 20, 2009 Thanks. One more Novices of Bagan Photo Gallery by Nick De Marco at pbase.com great image - superb ! Regards wls btw. maybe, just a little bit more contrast Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
azzo Posted April 20, 2009 Share #7 Posted April 20, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Nick, Lovely all with the last being simply Superb ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdb Posted April 20, 2009 Share #8 Posted April 20, 2009 Wonderful series, exudes with warmth. I too am particularly drawn to the last one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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