Burmese Refugees From Thailand Have Exhibit In Canada

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Burmese refugees capture their world

Tilestons let young photographers tell the story of their troubled homeland

By PAUL PICKREM Valley Arts | 7:06 AM

PHOTOGRAPHS taken by young Burmese refugees who use their camera as a weapon for reestablishing democracy in their homeland are being exhibited in Annapolis Royal for the rest of September.

The 34 photographs were taken this year by refugees in Rangoon, Burma and Mae Sot, Thailand, who participated in the My Story photo project organized by photographers Susan and Nathaniel Tileston of Granville Ferry, near Annapolis Royal.

The two started the project in 2006 after Susan visited a refugee camp on the border between Burma and Thailand while teaching English as a second language in Thailand in 2005.

"My guide suggested I do something with photography to teach the people a skill that would help occupy them by providing a creative outlet," she said in a recent interview.

She was inspired by the film Born Into Brothels, after returning home to Canada.

She and her husband travelled to Mae Sot, Thailand, in 2006 with six entry level digital cameras they purchased themselves, to work with five refugees from the Karen tribe from the mountainous border between the two countries, who are carrying on a sporadic guerilla war against the Burmese military junta.

They met with their students three times a week for three months to teach them basic photography skills.

The five returned to act as translators and assistant teachers this year when the class grew to 34. The images, which were edited by the students, have been shown at the Borderline Gallery for exiled artists in Mae Sot and in Canada.

"We wanted them to learn to use simple cameras rather than get caught up in the techniques of digital photography," Susan said. ""We wanted them to learn by taking a lot of pictures."

"Because we believe in taking photographs it was worthwhile to get them to pay attention to the images they were taking, to get beyond snapshots,"" Nathaniel added. ""We wanted them to learn to see as a photographer sees."

That goal was definitely achieved. The photographs in the exhibit may have been taken by budding photographers with basic equipment, but there is often a heightened sense of human drama and art in the exhibit, which includes captions provided by the photographers.

"I think these photographs can stand on their own as works of art," Susan said in agreement.

"They are authentic. They are genuine photographs, not inventions. They’re very human," Nathaniel says.

The Tilestons plan to return to Thailand for the third phase of the project in December.

"This is a skill we have and have used for over 30 years," he said. "After the first experience, the response was so positive we agreed to do the project for three years."

Admission to the exhibit is free and the couple said donations to the My Story project go toward the purchase of cameras and equipment. The couple said they pay their own travel and living expenses.

"We’re not saving lives like people who work with landmine victims, orphans or people with AIDS and malaria," Susan said. "But, we’re doing it because someday our students could tell their story and the story of the Burmese people to the world. Some will go back to Burma and document human rights abuses, which is horrifically dangerous. They all have said, "Someday, we’ll go back to a free and democratic Burma.’ "

"It’s a mantra," Nathaniel added. "They want to go home."

More information on the My Story project is available at www.msppa.org or by calling 532-2146.

The exhibit will continue until Sept. 30 at ARTsPLACE, 396 St. George St., Annapolis Royal.

Paul Pickrem is a writer in Middleton and Spotlight’s voice on the arts the Annapolis Valley.

Source: Chronicle-herald