PADUANG GIRL by PREMGIT
Limited Edition print (1 of 30). Size 40 x 50cm.
Premgit has been a photographer for over 30 years and for the last 25 years has solely concentrated on making fine black and white prints using film and traditional darkroom techniques. He has a deep love for the creative processes involved in producing images of excellence in this medium which in turn has led to his work being published in books and magazines worldwide.Silver gelatin print on Fomabrom baryta double-weight fibre-based paper.
35mm negative taken with a Leica M6 and 50mm F2 leitz lens.
ABOUT THE PHOTO
Young Padaung Girl, Mai Hong Son, Thailand 2006
The Padaung are an ethnic minority who many years ago were forced to flee their Burmese homeland. Many villages were set up for them just inside Thailand and although they are safe from their government’s persecution, they are not allowed to travel for work outside their villages. Visitors are however allowed in and selling handicrafts to tourists has become a good part of their income. A young Padaung woman who spoke very good English escorted me around the village and told me a little about the brass neck rings that some of the women wear. I had heard many stories of how this centuries old rite of passage became popular and talking with this young woman I realised that the origins were lost in the mists of time. She said that only girls born on certain days were allowed to wear them and some small jealousies arose from the girls without them.