This is Om Shen a 38 year old woman from the Muun tribe. Om lives with her husband and 6 children in a hamlet outside of Mindat. When asked why she had her face tattooed, she explained that her friends encouraged her to do it. She remembers it being very painful and it took a whole day to have it done. Like most Muun women it was done as a teenager. Shin State, Myanmar
This is Awi Htang Ngaah. Awi is from the Muun tribe and lives in a hamlet near Kampetlet. Awi is not sure of her age but thinks she is over sixty. She had her face tattooed when she was in her teens but cant remember the exact age. What she does remember though is the pain she had to endure for a whole month whilst the tattoo was being done. She recalls how her whole face would swell up everyday at the end of every session. Awi regrets having tattooed her face but being the daughter of the village tattooist she really had no option. Her mother did the artwork for her as she did for most young girls in the village. Awi embraced Christianity living the traditional believes and is now a devout christian. She goes to mass every week to a nearby village.
A young monk looks out of his bedroom window. Myanmar, 2017.