Photos of Buddhist-Muslim clashes win 2014 Yangon Photo Festival
The 2014 Yangon Photo Festival top prize was awarded to Soe Zeya Tun for “Myanmar in flames”, a series of photos depicting atrocities committed during recent clashes between Buddhist and Muslim populations in the country
The Yangon Photo Festival honours the work of aspiring Myanmar photo journalists who work to document history at a crucial time of change in their country.
The top prize was awarded by patron of the festival and jury member, Daw Aung Suu Kyi, and the French Ambassador Thierry Mathou.
Myanmar in flames
“Many centuries ago history was documented by people writing on stones, and future generations were able to learn about their way of life by studying these. In the same way, I hope my photo stories will help document an important time in history for this country, for future generations to understand and appreciate the sacrifices and struggles of today,” said Soe Zeya Tun accepting the award.
“Good photo journalism should not differentiate and favour any particular group but allow for diversity and differences in view.”
“The conflicts affect the image of the country and harms all of us, regardless of our ethnicity or religious beliefs. In 2012, when I started covering these conflicts I became emotionally affected but now I do my best to stay detached although it is extremely difficult.”
Soe Zeya Tun won a four months residency at the National School of Photography in Arles, France. The award was given in person by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and His Excellency Mr. Thierry Mathou, Ambassador of France.
The 29-year old photo journalists started his career as a reporter but gained a special interest in photojournalism during the Buddhist monk uprising in 2006 known as the Saffron-revolution and made a name of himself as one of few photojournalists covering the impact of Cyclone Nargis, which left some 140,000 people dead in May 2008. He now works for Reuters.
Sectarian violence in Myanmar has killed at least 240 people and displaced 140,000, most of them Muslims, since June 2012. The internally displaced are now living in camps guarded by security forces with little hope of returning to their old lives.
See more winners at Yangon Photo Festival.
The Yangon Photo Festival, organised by Institut français de Birmanie and International Media Support (IMS) offers budding Myanmar photographers the opportunity to participate in free training courses with the aim of giving the new generation of photographers the tools to be professional documentary photographers. Read more about the festival here.
