Win Soe Possibly 1997 - 2002

This is a photograph by Chan Chao, titled Win Soe. The image captures a young man in a leafy landscape, holding what looks like a hoe. The green is so vibrant, it feels like the air itself is green! I'm thinking about what it must have been like for Chao to find this person and take their picture. What were they talking about? What was the weather like? The photo feels both posed and spontaneous—like Chao saw something and asked Win Soe to hold still for a second. There is an intensity in the man’s gaze, but he’s relaxed too. I imagine a photographer like Chao is trying to capture a quality, to find a truth. Painters do the same, but with smears of pigment. Maybe it’s all the same project, just different materials and ways of seeing.