Nun and Nunnery

Another good photographic object in Myanmar is the nun.  Much of the differences between nuns and monks are you don’t see that many on streets, and nuns don’t go to street nearly as often as monks.

I have this interesting read about Nuns and Monks, which is a foundation of understanding them further.

I arrived at the nunnery nearby Kalaywa Monastery in late morning, after the early morning photography session in Royal Central Train Station; it was a breath of fresh air.  The train station itself is no doubt a great place for photography, but it is chaotic, sometimes noisy, and all the different people of different ages.  Here in the nunnery is all peaceful, calm, serene, and all the nuns are in their teens, although all different in their own way.

As a man in the nunnery doing nothing is already a challenge, to shoot the nuns, is a new and very different experience.

All the nuns in Myanmar wear pink robe, which is actually quite nice, and a pleasant visual.

When working on a portraiture subject, as I often do in studio and often in front of international female models, I will get excited, not sexually though, it is the level of passion. Shooting a nun, you will tell yourself to be careful, and you have to.

Nunnery is not a tourist spot and it is already a blessing to allow a man with camera wandering inside nunnery, with the nun the subject.  Stay and remain clam.  You need to remind yourself that you are the intruder, and the best thing to do – as a man – in nunnery is: “Leave the nuns along!”  Do whatever you need to do FAST, and just leave.  And make sure you left with a reasonable donation.