By Tessa Bunney on 19 January 2023
The Corridor of Opportunity
The Corridor of Opportunity is a series of inter-connected landscape stories documenting the changing environment of Lao People’s Democratic Republic. It refers specifically to an area where subsistence agriculture is gradually being complemented by an evolving cash economy influenced by China with vast swathes of the forest being replaced by cash crops such as rubber, bananas and sugar cane. The project aims to unravel the complexities of the contemporary landscape in Lao PDR, a country dominated by its larger neighbours and the creeping in of Western influences.
For generations, the people of Lao PDR have practiced…
Posted in | Leave a response
By Tessa Bunney on 18 January 2023
The Nam Ou
The Nam Ou documents daily life along a major tributary of the Mekong and the ongoing process as the villages, some over 200 years old, and their inhabitants are temporarily and then permanently relocated to make way for a major hydropower project.
*
One day in the Nam Ou river valley in Northern Laos there will be new villages. Concrete houses with kitchens and toilets, electricity and water. Along a road by the edge of a reservoir.
But for now life goes on amidst construction, confusion, disruption, displacement. With great anticipation for a better future.
…
Posted in | Leave a response
By Tessa Bunney on 17 January 2023
The Story of Hemp
Planting Harvesting Drying Peeling Twisting Reeling Winding Pounding Boiling Washing Drying Weaving Pressing Batik Appliqué Embroidery
But hemp means far more to Hmong women than just a series of processes. It is an indispensable part of Hmong tradition – used from birth through to marriage and in death.
Making hemp yarn is a long and laborious process, the end result is a strong, durable cloth with qualities similar to linen, which Hmong women make into skirts for their traditional clothing and household items. In Lao PDR, hemp is now only cultivated in remote mountainous areas of…
Posted in | Leave a response
By Tessa Bunney on 16 January 2023
Subsistence
Sub-sis-tence n
The action or fact of maintaining or supporting oneself, especially at a minimal level
Posted in | Leave a response
By Tessa Bunney on 15 January 2023
The Women of UCT6
During the Vietnam War, the U.S. dropped more than two million tons of ordnance over Laos, including more than 270 million cluster bomb sub-munitions. An estimated 30 per cent of these ‘bombies’, as they are known locally, failed to detonate. More than 50,000 people have been killed and injured as a result of UXO incidents between 1964 and 2011. At least 20,000 of them since the war ended.
Four decades of peace have put Lao PDR firmly on the road to recovery, with many people now reaping benefits from a growing economy. However, this is only…
Posted in | Leave a response
By Tessa Bunney on 14 January 2023
Ban Naphia
Laos is the most bombed country, per capita, in the world with more than two million tons of ordnance dropped on it during the Vietnam War, up to 30% of which failed to explode on impact. More than 50,000 people have been killed and injured as a result of UXO incidents between 1964 and 2011. At least of 20,000 of them since the war ended.
In many villages gathering metal salvaged from either Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) or the cases that surround it has been a major source of income for them and one of the main causes of…
Posted in | Leave a response
By Tessa Bunney on 13 January 2023
Images from a series of recent short explorations of Kayah State (formerly known as Karenni), the smallest of Myanmar’s states bordering Thailand’s north western province of Mae Hong Son.
Until recently Kayah State was completely closed to foreigners but began slowly opening up in 2006 with areas only within a 25 km radius of Loikaw allowed, now it is also possible to visit some more remoter areas with a permit.
Decades of armed conflict between the Government and ethnic armed groups has left Myanmar strewn with landmines with Kayah State one of the most affected. In 2012 all of…
Posted in | Leave a response
By Tessa Bunney on 12 January 2023
Everyday life on and around the Yangon Circular Railway, Myanmar. The railway, a narrow gauge local commuter train network serving Yangon metropolitan area, is a 28.5 mile (45.9 km) 39 station loop system. This British built rail-loop connects Yangon to its satellite towns and villages. The train leaves from Platform 7 at Yangon Central Station.
Posted in | Leave a response
By Tessa Bunney on 11 January 2023
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia located at the eastern end of the Himalayas. It is bordered to the north by China and to the south, east and west by India.
At an altitude of 2900 metres, Phobjikha Valley is the most significant overwintering ground for the rare and endangered Black-necked Crane in Bhutan. Every year on November 11th, the local community hosts the Black-necked Crane festival to highlight its significance to the valley.
Posted in | Leave a response
By Tessa Bunney on 10 January 2023
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia located at the eastern end of the Himalayas. It is bordered to the north by China and to the south, east and west by India.
The Brokpa, the semi-nomads of the villages of Merak and Sakteng are said to have migrated to Eastern Bhutan a few centuries ago from the Tshona region of Southern Tibet. Thriving on rearing yaks and sheep, the Brokpas have maintained many of their unique traditions and customs. In summer they move to the pastures with their yaks and sheep and in…
Posted in | Leave a response
By Tessa Bunney on 9 January 2023
In Van Lam village, Ninh Thuan province, Central Vietnam, Cham girls usually in groups of around 5, undergo a Karoh (maturity) ceremony, one of the most important ritual events of their lives and if it has not taken place, the girl cannot marry.
After a purification ritual, the girls prepare for the main ceremony by dressing in a white dress and then putting on bronze, copper and sometimes gold jewellery. The girl’s hair is brushed and put up into a bun. Afterwards each girl is given a traditional yellow robe and her head is covered with a red woven cloth…
Posted in | Leave a response
By Tessa Bunney on 8 January 2023
Baan Tong Luang, Eco-Agricultural Hill Tribes Village, Chiang Mai province, Thailand. The fabricated village of Baan Tong Luang is home to 8 different hill tribes from Thailand, Myanmar and Laos who make a living from selling their handicrafts and having their photos taken by tourists.
Posted in | Leave a response
By Hello on 7 January 2023
Oxfam Portraits
Six months after Typhoon Haiyan: Portrait of a Fishing Community – Bantayan Island
In Pooc every morning at 7am fisherwomen meet fishermen as they return from the sea with their catch. Women sort the fish by size and type, then weigh and distribute the fish between saleswomen to be sold on to local customers.
Typhoon Haiyan was one of the most powerful storms to ever make landfall. Six months after the storm, life for communities on Bantayan Island remains a struggle. Three-quarters of the island’s population of about 136,000 depend on fishing as their main source of income, but…
Posted in | Leave a response
By Tessa Bunney on 5 January 2023
Field, Forest and Family – SW China
My first visit to Yunnan province was in April 2008 whilst I was living in Vietnam. Kunming, its principal city, was just an hours flight from Hanoi. After several months in the flat Red River Delta I was longing to see hills and mountains. Rather than focusing on the enormity of the country’s cities and its fast paced growth, this project is about the people and places left behind in the mad rush for modernisation and the effects this is having on the countryside. The majority of villagers are subsistence farmers, although money…
Posted in | Leave a response
By Tessa Bunney on 4 January 2023
Home Work
Home Work looks at Vietnam’s ‘craft’ villages. These specialise in a single product or activity, anything from palm leaf hats to incense sticks, or from noodle making to snake-catching. Some of these ‘craft’ villages date back hundreds of years, whilst others are a more recent response to enable rural farmers to earn much needed extra income.
75% of Vietnam’s population currently live in rural areas but as the country moves towards urbanisation, its agricultural labour force faces losing its land to urban projects – and its way of life. The country’s growing population is reducing the availability of…
Posted in | Leave a response