11. Quiet Force

“Lisa!  Lisa!  She’s here!”  I hear as I focus my lens at the Htilominlo Temple.  “Who’s here?  I’m trying to get my shots of this beautiful architecture.”  “The tribal woman of the Padaung from the hills.  The one with the coils around her neck.  A few days ago you asked me to tell you if I saw one of them.”  I immediately stop what I’m doing and give my full attention to my guide, Joe.  “Wow.  She’s here?  At this temple?”  “Yes, on the other side selling things.  You must hurry, though.  We are leaving in less than ten minutes.”  “Oh boy.  Thank you, Joe.”  I grab my gear and run barefoot to the vendors on the other side of the temple grounds.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture an image of a woman I’ve imagined meeting and photographing since I saw images of her tribe in National Geographic many years ago.  I stop running to catch my breath, and then I see the woman.  When I notice the number of coils around her neck, it takes my breath away again…  There has to be close to two dozen…  I try to calm down and walk closer.  Then I see another woman sitting next to her working on a loom.  They look amazing.  “Mingalaba (hello)…  May I take your photograph?”  The woman nods “yes,” and I kneel down to frame her in my lens.  She looks directly at me and gives me a very confident look — one that I’ve seen more than once in the eyes of the women here in Myanmar.  There is no mistaking the inner strength and tenacity of the women in this country.  These women are tough, and they have let me capture that with my camera on more than one occasion.  I guess I would be too if I were living their lifestyle.  Through my research, I’ve learned that the brass coils are placed around a young girl’s neck during a religious ritual when she is 5 years old.  Over time, more coils are added and the weight presses her collarbones down, giving the illusion of a long neck.  Eventually the neck muscles weaken from lack of use, and the rings help the women hold their heads up high.  Judging by the look in this woman’s eyes, I can’t imagine that she would ever have a problem doing that — even without brass coils…