"A Portrait of Yangon" Up Through April 28th l Yangon, Burma

If you didn't make it to the opening party, you can still come see the student work!
Photographers are activists and journalists based in Yangon.
The exhibit will run through the 28th of April.
Gallery is open 9am-5pm every day.
Check out the book release party on the night of the 28th!

Yangon Show this Friday! l Yangon, Burma (Myanmar)

We're pleased to present the first ever Shoot Cameras Not Guns Photographers exhibit in Yangon, Burma (Myanmar)!!

This is an opportunity that we have been working towards for years. 

Public gatherings, art, and truthful dialogue are becoming more accepted and legal in Burma. We're excited and honored to be an active part in both the change, and the results.

Come by if you're in town!

Chiang Mai Documentary Arts Festival l Chiang Mai, Thailand

Hong Sar speaks on the Burma Photographers Panel.

What an inspiring conference!

One week of documentary arts was not enough for us.  That's right, Shoot Cameras Not Guns combined teaching and learning for a full week in Chiang Mai.  The second annual Chiang Mai Documentary Arts Festival (CDAF) was a jam-packed week of documentaries, gallery shows, talks, workshops, discussions and networking.  

Many of the finest filmmakers, photojournalists and human rights activists working in Southeast Asia were in attendance. 

Ian gets an explanation of one of Ryan's prints, won in the silent auction!

The week started with a panel on photojournalism in Burma. One of Diana's first students, Hong Sar, was on the panel, a very proud moment for them both! We were treated to amazing documentaries every day, and top-notch workshops as well.  Ian was particularly excited by the DSLR film making workshop taught by the conference organizer, Ryan Libre.  

Photographer and DAA founder Ryan Libre thanks guests for attending CDAF.

We were able to teach a photo workshop in conjunction with the festival too, and introduced many new colleagues to our organization and programs. 

Lucie Awards founder Hossein Farmani auctions of a 1000 Baht bill to warm up bidders for the silent auction!

We were also lucky enough to get to know most of the presenters and attendees over the course of the week. It looks like we will be able to use what we learned at the conference right away, and hope to be collaborating with some of our new colleagues very soon.  Special thanks to Documentary Arts Asia (DAA) for putting on the festival!

Hong Sar's video of photo class in Chiang Mai

Our friend, Hong Sar, taught with us the second day at the Best Friends Library in Chiang Mai. He also shot and edited this video of the class. A great teacher, and a great photographer and videographer.
Thanks to Hong Sar for putting this together! Visit Hong Sar's website too: www.hongsar.com



Towards the end of the video you see the kids moving lights around in the air. This is an activity we did called "light painting" or "light graffiti." We use a darker room, and long exposure to create drawings or paintings in the air. The kids love it and it helps them understand the concepts of exposure and light capture in photography.

First Sangklahburi workshop finished!

 

*Note: Some specific names of individuals and organizations are not included, to protect them as they carry out sensitive journalism inside Burma (Myanmar).

Our first week-long workshop has finished, and it was a great success! For the last week we had 20 students learning about photography mechanics, shooting photo essays, and learning about photojournalism ethics.

Our students are all from Mon State inside Burma, and are in Sangklahburi, Thai side of the border, participating in a variety of capacity-building classes and workshops hosted by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM.) The students represented 6 different NGOs that are working on behalf of the Mon people in their homeland, and on behalf of Mon refugees residing in the border area. These nationless people have fled violence and oppression over the last 25 years.

The students were all enthusiastic and worked hard to learn the skills and professional practices that we taught. In turn, we learned more about the Mon people, the dynamic political situation within Monland, and what life is like for short-term and long-term refugees stuck in the border region.

                    

Despite language hurdles we were able to help every last student put together and present a photo essay with well-composed photos and captions; and about half of them were able to publish their essays on their brand new blogs. This was a very exciting thing for individuals who have been working to tell the world their stories for years, and who now feel like they can in a meaningful way.

A very big "Thank you!" to Aue Mon, a former student of Diana's from 2006 who is now helping run HURFOM. He coordinated our workshop before we arrived in Thailand, and served as a translator throughout the entire week of class, while participating in all of the class activities as a student as well! We could have not done this workshop without his help, and for that we are very grateful.

As is sometimes the case, many of the rewards of teaching come after the final class has ended. For us this was the case our last night in Sangklahburi. Our students hosted a dinner party because we are moving on to the Chiang MaiDocumentary Arts Festival, and one of their english teachers, Ben, is moving on as well. We had a wonderful traditional Mon dinner, followed by some impromptu singing, dancing and even improv comedy on the part of two of our more outgoing students. Diana and I were coaxed up on stage at one point, where we entertained our students with our dancing, singing and beat-boxing skills to a song that neither of us knew, and that seemed to last for ever. As we sat there recovering, watching the unbridled merriment, Diana pointed out to me that what we were witnessing was even more amazing when you consider that a party like this would literally be illegal in their homeland, just 30 kilometers to the west over the Thai/Burma border. With this idea, my smile deepened as I watched our students take photo after photo of each other capturing their temporary reality forever.         

Shoot Cameras Not Guns has arrived in Thailand!

We arrived safely in Thailand two weeks ago, and everything is going well so far!  As with most international travel, there has been a good deal of physical and cultural adjustment.  The frigid mountains of Colorado have been replaced by sweltering, crowded streets of Bangkok.  The smooth and simple transportation of the States has given way to logistical challenges, round-about routes and (mostly) safe-enough conveyance.  Ubiquitous American English and constant global media onslaught at home has calmed to simple speech, and murmurs of dozens of foreign conversations all around. We have finally leapt over the final technological hurdles so that we can stay digitally connected to friends, supporters and collaborators here and abroad.  Our minds are calming, our hearts are opening, and we're itching to get our show on the road!  

        We have spent our days here in Bangkok reconnecting with students, colleagues & old friends that Diana knows from her first voyage here 7 years ago when Shoot Cameras Not Guns was created.  They are very excited to have Diana and the project back in their "neighborhood"  and are looking forward to working with SCNG in its expanded form.  We have also been preparing, scheduling and finalizing details of the first round of workshops that we will be teaching along the Thai/ Burma border soon.  

Five levels of electronics at Pantip Plaza in Bangkok!

     Our first workshops will be in Sangkluburi, where the project was born. February 4-8 we will be teaching photography and photojournalism to NGO workers and journalists from Burma (Myanmar) for HURFOM (Human Rights Foundation of Mon-land).  

Immediately following our first stint in Sangklaburi we will be traveling to Chiang Mai and teaching workshops as part of the Chiang Mai Documentary Arts Festival (February 8th- 14th.)  During these workshops we will be working with migrant workers, and expanding our connections to the human rights community in the region.

     We are very excited to be underway, and happy to report that our entry phase has been positive, productive and invigorating!  

Ian getting familiar with the flashy and blinky aspects of Bangkok

You're invited!

Beers for Burma is a craft beer festival & fundraising event for the Shoot Cameras Not Guns upcoming workshops in Burma and Thailand.

For more info, to RSVP and invite your friends, visit the event on Facebook.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS.

When:            First Friday, December 7, 2012

                        6pm-2am

Where:           ArtHaus Gallery

                        3340 Larimer St.

                        Denver, Colorado

The Event:

Featuring Colorado craft beers, live music, circus

style aerial acrobatic performances, and local art, the

first annual “Beers for Burma” is not to be missed!

This fundraiser for the Denver-based project, Shoot 

Cameras Not Guns, will  highlight RiNo businesses,

and have a great party for an even greater cause!

Get tickets early and your first beer is free!

Non-beer beverages available as well!

All ages welcome. 21+ to drink.