TITLE: Guardians of Paradise - Bagan, Myanmar (Burma)

Between 2018 and 2020, I've spent 8 months in the ancient Buddhist city of Bagan in Myanmar.

This work is an intimate and precious glance into the Burmese life and culture in the months preceding the 2021 military coup. A meditation on Freedom & Peace to support the People of Myanmar in their painful struggle towards self-determination and a more equal society.

On February 1st 2021, the army has overthrown the democratically elected government in a coup d'état that dramatically affected 54 million Burmese, plunging the whole country into a state of fear, violence and extreme isolation.

In a moment where the people of Myanmar need help and international attention the most, this work wish to portray the uniqueness of the Burmese culture, as well as to bear witness of their incredible strength, whose true power lies in compassion, gracefulness, generosity and human dignity.

Please note that these photos are scans of original Platinum-palladium prints.

In 2021, I also created the award-winning short film "Guardians of Paradise" on the People of Bagan,
watch it here >> https://vimeo.com/577974858

AUTHOR: Ivan Maria Friedman (Switzerland)

My name is Ivan Maria Friedman. I am a photographer, cinematographer, filmmaker and classical musician.

Since my youngest age, Art has been an endless source of satisfaction, and a fuel for my imagination that helps me reinterpret the world in a thousand different ways. I first started drawing and playing music when I was a child. Later on, I discovered that I could also take photographs and shoot and edit films, and I really enjoyed it. I felt enthusiastic about the possibility to combine these different disciplines and apply to each the formal principles that I could observe into the others.

Music gave me a chance to explore the depths of my own mind, to reflect on the meanings of life, and taught me to recognize and appreciate harmonic patterns, both in myself and in the rest of the manifested world. Photography and Cinematography gave me a chance to travel and witness the staggering beauty of this world, meet all sorts of interesting people and enjoy moments of peace and wonder in Nature.

In these forms of expressions and their interrelatedness I see a field of possibilities to celebrate aliveness from a wide variety of perspectives, to develop my own vision, and along with it, my own voice, with which to share with other people what I find beautiful and meaningful in life, and continue to ask myself the most fascinating questions of all: What is it, that which we call life? What is this experience of me, of you, and of the universe ? Where did it all come from? And what is this magnificent cosmic play all about ?