Life along the River
A shack is tucked among the palm trees along the river bank of a river tributary
The Pathein River and its tributaries divide the township of Ngaputaw in Myanmar into several splinters of islands and small land masses. Travelling on a tugboat in some of these waterways, I always zoom into man-made structures and signs of riverside life. The verdant green ricefields and palms lining the riverbanks look fresh in the eyes but there was always some air of loneliness in the images I captured in riverside houses and man-made structures.
An elderly woman waits at the porch or her thatch house. There is a high rate of very poor households in the villages that are accessible only by boat through the river system.
A boatman fixes his boat by the banks of the river
The drag of endless mental work in a strange land takes its toll. Fatigue can kill so petty escapades provide hopeful deviations from the brewing madness. An aging DSLR keeps good company to a walk around the neighbourhood, a short drive to a scenic place, or a silent recollection in a quiet nook granting that the host community and the elements of nature would allow one a safe passage to solitude and contemplation. Loneliness quickly turns to joy when something exciting gets captured by the cam’s shutter then set free into the laptop’s screen followed by electric words that rush from the fingers to the keyboard in an effort to describe the moment. Alas, the brain is alive once again!
