Smiling Burmese Kids: A Photo Essay
Taking photos of kids is the most difficult, but if successful, it can be very rewarding. I was rewarded when I was sitting in the shade of the Sule Pagoda in Yangon on a hot summer day. While I was sitting and hearing an old man explain the Theravada Buddhist religion and culture to me, I noticed a group of kids watching me intently. As is my nature, I waved and smiled at them. They returned the smile, but did not venture further. I tried breaking the ice, but the kids were very shy. I tried some of my usual antics and then tried waving my camera at them. Slowly, one kid moved in closer and posed. I clicked his picture and showed it to him. He was happy and so were the others. Now, everyone wanted to pose for my camera and it was even better when they started smiling, laughing and playing antics.
There were 2 boys and 2 girls in the group. The girls were quieter and shy, while the boys were more bold. One in particular was very rowdy and was pulling the leg of the others. As a photographer, it was very heartening to see smiling faces look into my lens. While they kept smiling, I kept clicking and then showed them the results, which in turn made them smile even more.
I had a great time photographing these kids. I was so happy with the interaction that I bought a popsicle for all the kids as a reward for their smiling faces. The hot day and the water festival was just an added incentive. While I was buying these kids popsicles, the other kids thought that I was buying all kids popsicles, so they joined in on the fun. They were all adorable kids and the cost of the popsicle wasn’t much, so in the end, I ended up buying all the popsicles from the popsicle vendor. The kids were happy, the popsicle vendor was happy and I was happy. And it was happy new year day too.
I hope you like these smiling Burmese kids.
