“MY STORY photo project: pictures on the edge” presented by Tileston

Symposium:

• ISEA2009: 15th International Symposium on Electronic Art

• MY STORY photo project: pictures on the edge

• Susan Tileston

Venue(s):

• Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Ireland

• Artists Statement

  A man washes his cow in a river. A spirit house stands alone in a field. Not the kind of images one would expect to see from the border area between Thailand and Burma. No photos of land mine victims, malnourished children, or burned out villages. Instead, images of daily life on this shared border taken by the Burman and Karen who live there: in refugee camps, as illegal migrant workers on the Thai side, or inside Burma, in IDP areas in Karen state. Wherever they live, life is precarious: subject to harassment and deportation by the Thai authorities on the one hand – victims of sporadic fighting, forced labour, or, used as human shields by the Burmese military on the other.

  Since 2006, we have run the MY STORY photo project, giving entry-level digital cameras and basic photo instruction to small groups of young Karen and Burmese on both sides of the border.

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Category:

• Artist Talk