Ho Lang village, Eastern Shan State 2012.

Eastern Shan State

Mawlamyine 2011: feeding seagulls on the Thanlwin River.

Mawlamyine

Myeik, Tanintharyi Division 2013: monks collecting morning alms.

Myeik

Helon Village 2008: a stilt-house village on southern Inle Lake.

Inle Lake

Yangon 2009: street vendor frying chapati.

Yangon

Kyaukphyu village, Northern Shan State 2011: cooking breakfast after an overnight village stay.

Northern Shan State

Yangon 2013: Burmese naanbya is a smaller version of Indian naan, and generally served in Muslim teashops with curries or chickpea salad. This vendor was more unusual, with a streetside oven in front of one of Yangon's many mosques, selling only take-away flatbread.

Yangon

Kyaukme, Northern Shan State 2012: swimming in the rice paddies.

Northern Shan State

Ban Lae village, Eastern Shan State 2012: Eng women in traditional costume, encountered during a hike.

Eastern Shan State

Ban Wy village, Eastern Shan State 2012: trekking guide David cajoled farm workers into sharing their wonderfully-sweet strawberries.

Eastern Shan State

Kyaukme, Northern Shan State 2008: early-morning alms collection.

Kyaukme

Pan Paung village, Rakhine State 2009: Tattooed woman of unidentified Chin ethnic group along the Lemro River. The tradition of facial tattooing is dying out; younger women do not want to deal with the pain or go against current standards of beauty. Traditional reasons vary slightly, from the Chin women being so beautiful that the menfolk tattooed their faces to disguise their beauty from marauding Burmese, to mothers tattooing their daughters in fear of the King taking them as concubines. <br><br>This woman was the oldest remaining tattooed lady at age 70, while the youngest was 60. Sharp as a tack, this one; when asked if the tattooing hurt, she replied that it actually hurt twice...because she had to pay to have it done.

Rakhine State

Pan Ta Pay, Northern Shan State 2011: Palaung woman weaving fabric for a new bag while neighbor kids keep her company. The 43-year-old emigrated from China as a child and met her husband in Myanmar (also a Palaung from China). She is wearing the traditional waist/hip rings of the Palaung costume. <br><br>Every few years, she makes a new bag in white fabric with pink stripes. It takes about one month to finish on a backstrap loom.

Northern Shan State

Ko Nging village, Northern Shan State 2012: Palaung wedding. Some of the women still wear traditional clothes and shave their heads after marriage. The traditional striped longyis are still popular among women who don't want to put on the full costume.

Northern Shan State

Yangon 2015: Traditional longyis on the men, beautiful colonial buildings, and trishaws for transportation, juxtaposed with the trishaw driver openly reading of a newspaper entitled 'Democracy Today.' Unthinkable just a few years ago under military rule. Despite this peaceful image, journalistic freedom is still in serious jeopardy in Myanmar.

Yangon

Namshan, Northern Shan State 2011: young novice-to-be studies with his monk mentor. Kids his age are often taken into monasteries after becoming orphaned, and the white-robed ones are not held to rules as strict as regular novices are.

Northern Shan State

Ko Nging village, Northern Shan State 2011: Palaung man with a traditional protective head tattoo.

Northern Shan State

Kalewa, Sagaing Division (Chindwin River) 2014: cargo and passenger boats at the Kalewa port. The Chindwin River is a major transportation route in this part of Sagaing Division.

Chindwin River

Won Mei village, Eastern Shan State 2012: a Palaung girl cares for her infant sibling.

Eastern Shan State

Northern Shan State 2015 (near Kyaukme): a Palaung girl heads out to collect water.

Northern Shan State

Yangon, 2013: playing chess on the street near Bogyoke Market.

Yangon

Thanlwin River, 2011: on the slow ferry from Mawlamyine to Hpaan. The ferry has been since been discontinued due to availability of road transport, and now only small tourist boats still ply this route.

Thanlwin River

Northern Shan State 2012: my guide Naing Naing walks around a false banyan tree.

Northern Shan State

Mawlaik, Sagaing Division (Chindwin River) 2014: early morning in this small riverside town.

Chindwin River

Yangon 2013: a Shan monk based in remote Karen State visits a temple where he used to teach in Yangon.

Yangon

Pyin Oo Lwin, 2012: I've gotten stuck with the cargo bus to Kyaukme every time. Nice passenger buses are available, and I always get them on the return trip, but when departing Mandalay or Pyin Oo Lwin I've faced bad luck or weird coincidence even when buying tickets in advance.

Pyin Oo Lwin

Pan Nyung village, Northern Shan State 2011: mobile grocery vendors parked outside a tiny local shop.

Northern Shan State

Kyaingtong, Eastern Shan State 2012: these kids were just playing, but the serious facial expressions were mesmerizing.

Kyaingtong

Hsipaw, Northern Shan State 2011: novices (young monks) playing football.

Hsipaw

Kyaingtong, Eastern Shan State 2012: shot a couple weeks before the parliamentary elections that officially ushered democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi into government. This was the first visit to Myanmar where I'd seen ASSK paraphenalia openly sold.

Kyaingtong

Nampan village, Inle Lake, Southern Shan State 2008: Pa-O ethnic women at the largest floating market on the lake.

Inle Lake

Mawlamyine, 2011: the head monk of Queen Sein Ton monastery enjoys his cigars.

Mawlamyine

Ban Wy village, Eastern Shan State 2012: extremely giggly Lahu boys from a tea-growing family pour a welcome drink.

Eastern Shan State

Khamti, Sagaing Division 2014: ferries for taking motorbikes across the river from Khamti to Sandhi are a motorized combination of raft and canoe.

Chindwin River

Sagaing, 2012: crafting silver pots. The pot lids are filled with what looks like tar, then stuck together. The solid insides makes it easier to gently hammer out a design on the delicate lid.

Sagaing

Northern Shan State 2011: Palaung children gathering wood.

Northern Shan State

Dawei 2013.

Dawei

Law Sar village, Northern Shan State 2012: Palaung woman weaving baskets for fishing (for personal use, not for sale).

Northern Shan State

Hpa'an, Karen State 2011: Kyauk Ka Lat, a pagoda perched on a rock formation.

Hpa'an

Yangon 2013: still many people living in crumbling colonial buildings.

Yangon

Pan Paung village, Rakhine State 2009: primary school in a Chin-minority village. The teachers are all very young, straight out of school themselves, and unable to bribe their way into a better-paying or more reputable position.

Rakhine State

Mawlamyine 2011: slate-making is one of the cottage industries on nearby Ogre Island. This woman took a break every few slates to rock her baby.

Mawlamyine

Tonzang village, Northern Chin State 2014: early morning in this large village in remote, mountainous Chin State. Before 2013, permits were still required to visit this region.

Northern Chin State

Amarapura 2012: food vendor walks across the famed U Bein bridge, the oldest and longest teak bridge in the world.

Amarapura (U Bein)

Mawlaik, Sagaing Division (Chindwin River) 2014: a noviatiation ceremony for new young monks.

Chindwin River

Ho Koyn village, Eastern Shan State 2012: re-thatching roofs in an Akha village.

Eastern Shan State

Eindu village, Karen State 2011: excited young children in a famed weaving village.

Karen State

Ho Lang village, Eastern Shan State 2012: young novices conscripted into building their own monastery at the burgeoning World Peace Pagoda. This is outside an ethnic Eng village, but the monks can come from all over the country.

Eastern Shan State

Yangon 2013: morning alms in a busy city.

Yangon

Yangon 2012: Pansodan Street is known as a gallery street and a booksellers street. While there are certainly indoor bookshops, this type of vendor is also quite common.

Yangon