The woman painted Thanaka on her face thumbed up forcefully

Woman thumbing up forcefully — Shot at Kyauktan Township in Myanmar

The street near the market was busy. And some street vendors did business. The woman in this photo was one of them. When I approached her, she looked straight at me and thumbed up forcefully. On her face, Thanaka was painted. Because she wore a headband, she looked like as if she waked up just before and was about to wash her face with a face pack. Yet it was already afternoon. And she was working on the street. She did business with the face-pack-like Thanaka.

When I came to Myanmar 8 years ago, I thought I saw much more people who wore Thanaka on their face. Maybe it was a rainy season here. So not so many people painted it. To paint the face with Thanaka was a distinctive habit in Myanmar. It was rare in the neighboring countries, Thailand and Bangladesh. So I wanted the locale people preserved the custom as a tradition in this country.

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