A photographic journey of rediscovery of the native country, in search of the familiar in the "exotic", childhood memories resituated in the present of a Burma that has started to open up again, questionning the Western visual understanding of the region.
At first sight, the photographs in this book may seem to stem directly from a post-colonial holiday scrapbook – exotic snapshots of places, situations and people that are unfamiliar to Western viewers. Yet the term "exotic" can nowadays no longer be applied unthinkingly. Behind the collection of images is an artist trying to come to terms with the country of her childhood. The pictures reflect both perspectives, that of a tourist and that of a local, and the two meet and merge. With her photographic approach, the author draws objects and people close rather than observing them from a distance. The style oscillates between documentary and autobiographical, seeking out the familiar in the exotic. In the travel scenes depicted, memories meet projections, and domestic life is counterpointed by images of untamed jungle flora. The photobook documents a journey of rediscovery in a country and culture slowly emerging from the stranglehold of military dictatorship, a journey that goes well beyond the personal.
Chloé Tun Tun is a Swiss
photographer of Burmese origin, co-fonder of Maison Moiré, a Post Production studio based in London and Marseille where she lives and works. She studied photography at
ECAL, in Switzerland, graduating in 2012. Her documentary work reflects on observing some of our behaviours as a way to question our civilisation.
