director + writer + photographer

Building Bridges

The year was 1850, or thereabouts as the legend goes, and a man named U Bein (or Oo Pain, if you prefer) was the mayor of Amarapura, one of Myanmar’s former capital cities. His son was a student in the monastery across Taungthaman Lake, about 13 circuitous miles away.

In a place like Myanmar, monastic education is not only free, it offers many kids opportunities that open once impossible futures.

U Bein believed in making those futures possible, but thirteen miles every day, no matter the doors open at the end of such a journey, was too great an obstacle for so many. So he built a bridge from teak wood reclaimed from the royal palaces of former kings.

That Mandalay Tree  rises out of the water near U Bein's Bridge.

That Mandalay Tree rises out of the water near U Bein's Bridge.

A fisherman slowly wades through the water near U Bein's Bridge.

A fisherman slowly wades through the water near U Bein's Bridge.

A woman walks her bike across U Bein's Bridge at sunrise, carrying her goods to market.

A woman walks her bike across U Bein's Bridge at sunrise, carrying her goods to market.

A young monk walks in the footsteps of U Bein's son.

A young monk walks in the footsteps of U Bein's son.

A woman wades through the water beneath U Bein's bridge toward more fertile fishing grounds.

A woman wades through the water beneath U Bein's bridge toward more fertile fishing grounds.

A woman fishes with a net in the shallow waters of Taungthaman Lake.

A woman fishes with a net in the shallow waters of Taungthaman Lake.

A fisherman navigates Taungthaman Lake in the shadow of a distant stupa at dawn. 

A fisherman navigates Taungthaman Lake in the shadow of a distant stupa at dawn. 

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I work from a spirit of natural curiosity, creative generosity and philosophic integrity.

Let’s collaborate.