The Ice Water Sellers of Yangon

[Leica All Day]

Hello everybody.....I would like to share with you this fun photo essay that I did in Yangon last week....

I have been involved in "water issues" for over 13 years now....I have photographed in America, India, Thailand, Italy and many other countries that are facing water problems.....I am not going to get into too much here because I am pretty sure that most of the users here are aware of water problems that many people in the world face.....and besides, this is RFF....we come here for different reasons....

anyways, I have never seen this done in any other country that I have visited......I first noticed it last year in Yangon when I saw people buying cups of ice cold water from street vendors.....

anyways, I am pretty sure the photos are going to be self explanatory and I don't need to explain very much.....

The Ice Water Sellers of Yangon sell cups of water to people walking by who desire a nice cold cup of water.....they will also fill your empty water bottle or sell you one of their used water/cola bottles as "take away"......

From what I witnessed over countless hours of observation is that the cups are not washed between customers...they just rotate between the 4-6 cups that they have in their stand.....the customers did not seem to mind at all that the cups were not washed.....

anyways, here are some of the photos.......

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cheers, michael

 

[RayPA]

Very interesting. Great shots, too. OK, I'm going to get all 'gear-minded' on you and ask for the specifics of what gear you used. 🙂

 

[Leica All Day]

some more

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[Leica All Day]

Thanks for the compliment Ray...I used an m6ttl/m2 and a 15cv, 28 elmarit, 35 1.2 nokton, 50 rigid and a 90 summicron......the film was Kodak Pro Image 100....

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cheers, michael

 

[kidpluto]

thank you for sharing a window into this world. once again, excellent work, sir!

 

[Leica All Day]

I should mention that the water sellers only sell water when it is hot out (bright/sunny)......it was sometimes difficult because they would set up their stands under umbrellas and it would force me to adjust the composition and exposure because of how harsh the lighting was....I think you can see in some of the photos what i am talking about......

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cheers, michael

 

[Leica All Day]

Thanks a lot kidpluto, it was fun to shoot this project

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cheers, michael

 

[robert blu]

Good interesting pictures (in the other thread as well). How was your relation with people portraited in the pictures ? Were they curious about you? Did they make any comment? Or give explanation of their uses ? just curious, ciao
rober

 

[Leica All Day]

Ciao Robert.....grazie per i complimenti.....

How was your relation with people portraited in the pictures ? very good

Were they curious about you? yes, very much

Did they make any comment? yes, many

Or give explanation of their uses ? not sure I understand the question...do you mean the photos or the water buckets......

I shot film so they were not able to see the photos that I took of them, but I showed some of the people (the ones who wanted to see) many photos of Myanmar/Thailand/America.....(I had my iphone with me).....


I have gone to Myanmar a couple of times now and it is BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE......sure, the country has beautiful buddhist pagodas and many touristy sites to see, but I enjoy talking to the people the most......sure, some of them can't speak English well, but many do....I can also speak a little Burmese and that helps a lot to break the ice......

I would visit the people in the photos above (The Ice Water Sellers of Yangon) 2 or 3 times a day for 6 days in a row.......sometimes, I would just sit and talk with them, sometimes I would eat with them and sometimes i would take photos of them.....

I have photos of them posing and smiling for the camera, but those were not the photos that I wanted.....of course, when someone would ask me to take a photo of them, I would......many times they would ask me to take a photograph of them with their family or friends......but after a short time, they would get back to work and forget about me, and then I could photograph the way that I wanted to.......

I consider myself a very friendly person who is not shy to approach people.....I have also lived/worked in this part of the world (India/Vietnam/Thailand) for the last 5 years and feel comfortable here.......I also have a lot of respect for the people who allow me to hang around and photograph them....

Anche ho abitato in Italia per due anni e parlo Italiano....

Ciao, Michael

 

[Leica All Day]

Here is another one

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cheers, michael

 

[Ducky]

I'm curious: Where did they get the ice and what was the cost per cup (relative to euros or dollars)?
I'm not sure about the health issues but the setups looked like the vendors cared a little about cleanliness even if they did not wash the cups.
My wife would gross out at the thoought.

 

[Leica All Day]

Hey Ducky, they buy the ice from an 'ice salesman'...as far as cost goes, a cup would be about 2 u.s. cents....

Cheers, Michael

 

[robert blu]

Ciao Michael,
grazie per la risposta. It is always interesting to know something about people living in a different country. Again "bravo, molto bravo" for your pictures.
robert

 

[Bingley]

Michael -- Thanks for this thread, and for showing an aspect of water that most of us never knew existed (and, as a water guy myself, I find it fascinating). The photos are excellent, and I like that you did this set in color.

 

[ederek]

Hello Michael.

I came to this thread via the link you provided in the Myanmar Thread. What a superb series of images, thank you!! I agree that the "Yangon, train station" image you posted 2 days ago is extraordinary.

<snip>
I would visit the people in the photos above (The Ice Water Sellers of Yangon) 2 or 3 times a day for 6 days in a row.......sometimes, I would just sit and talk with them, sometimes I would eat with them and sometimes i would take photos of them.....

I have photos of them posing and smiling for the camera, but those were not the photos that I wanted.....of course, when someone would ask me to take a photo of them, I would......many times they would ask me to take a photograph of them with their family or friends......but after a short time, they would get back to work and forget about me, and then I could photograph the way that I wanted to.......

I consider myself a very friendly person who is not shy to approach people.....I have also lived/worked in this part of the world (India/Vietnam/Thailand) for the last 5 years and feel comfortable here.......I also have a lot of respect for the people who allow me to hang around and photograph them....

<snip>

Well done!! I have the utmost respect for your approach to the topic and the people. I think it is an example of some of the best street work (sorry if that phrase understates the project). I believe that too often the street genre takes an approach of 'grabbing' a moment, being 'stealthy' and so on to get a candid and natural shot.

You have eloquently demonstrated an alternative that is more in line with how I see street - that of photographing within one's own community (even if only a member of the community for a limited number of days and not a resident). A noble approach.

ps - I've grown increasingly sensitive to water issues in the past 1-2 years, starting with bottled water, then embedded water and so on. It is perhaps one of the most significant global issues for the coming years..

my best, ..e derek

 

[tomnrides]

Nice job Michael. It takes lots of time but the satisfaction is so much more rewarding.
Please post more .. oh you have another thread in Travel section! Thanks

 

[Leica All Day]

a couple of recent ones......I know this topic might not be the most interesting topic, but for someone like myself who has studied/worked in the "water field", I am really fascinated by these "Ice Water Sellers"......anyways, thanks for stopping by and having a look.....

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cheers, michael

 

[Leica All Day]

I like these two a lot

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cheers, michael

 

[Leica All Day]

This photo makes me happy....if you look back in this thread to post 7, you will see a photo of this water seller......well, about 5 months later I was walking down the street photographing and I got the warmest greeting by this guy and another water seller because they remembered me.....well, I pulled out my iphone and showed them photos from the previous trip and they were so happy......it was a good time...photography kicks butt

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cheers, michael

 

[Leica All Day]

I am happy, a couple of months ago Jakarta Post bought 6 of my photos from this story and published them on the first page of their travel section......pretty cool

some recent ones.....I brought back a copy of the newspaper and showed it to the people who were featured in the article.....they were super happy......

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cheers, michael