Tattooing in Burma (13 images)

  • Charm tattooing probably came to Burma in the 10th century. By the late 19th century it was so widespread that British journalist Sir (James) George Scott reported that any man who wasn't tattooed was considered effeminate. Burmese tattoos are not simply designs, they are believed to protect and empower the wearer by invoking mythical, religious and secret symbols and mantras. Here, Shwe, a Burmese woodcarver displays a 90 box square 'in' on his back. Each box contains a symbol - a secret charm - designed to protect him and enrich his male power. The 'in' is guarded from above by Zaw Gyi, a Burmese mythical figure with curative powers.

  • Tattoo hsaya (master) U Tin Pay with his traditional tattoo needle at his studio in Mandalay. Famed for his steady hand and for inking small letters with great clarity, the hsaya learned his trade in the traditional way, by accumulating knowledge that had been passed through the generations from down from master to master.

  • Traditionally inks were made from local ingredients, with juice extracted from the commonly available bitter gourd leaf mixed with lampblack, the thick dark smoke that emanates from burning sesame oil. It was effective, but intensely itchy. Succumbing to the desire to scratch could wreck a design so men often took their friends along with them, to help divert their attention from itching and then ruining their tattoos.

  • A tattoo design showing the feared King Bawdithada tattoo, which it was believed was so powerful, that in tragic circumstances, it could overwhelm the wearer causing them to become insane, condemned to scouring graveyards to eat rotting flesh. The only way to avoid madness was to tattoo two images of Bawdithada on either side of the body, one entering the body (pi win) and the other exiting it (pi thway). This is the pi win version of the tattoo which features a Bawdithada-like figure stuffing children in his mouth. To avoid his client becoming insane, it was believed the tattoo master should always ink the pi thway version first.

  • Khin Maung Aye, son of Mandalay tattoo hsaya (master) U Tin Pay, reveals the tattoos his father inked on his chest to encourage him in his devotions to Buddha

  • An elderly ethnic Karen soldier displays a dense pattern of traditional tattoos known as Shan trousers starting at the waist and finishing at the knee. Nineteenth century British journalist Sir (James) George Scott wrote that Shan trousers were once so widespread that any man who didn't have them was considered feckless and unmanly. Some men opted for a full-length version that reached their ankles. Shan trousers are now only seen rarely, usually displayed by elderly men, and the practice has almost entirely died out amongst the young.

  • An ethnic Karen soldier with charm tattoos and slogans on his arms. The Karen, an ethnic group living in Southern Burma and the Eastern hills bordering Thailand, have been fighting a liberation war for more than half a century, which started in 1947. Fighting continues in remote forests on Burma's border with Thailand. Soldiers tattoo modern liberation symbols and slogans as well as ancient charm tattoos for protection - all part of a body language of defiance.

  • A ethnic Karen soldier with Christian and ethnic related tattoos demanding peace and justice and a popular Karen nationalist symbol of a frog drum surrounded by two buffalo horns. The Karen, an ethnic group living in Southern Burma and the Eastern hills bordering Thailand, have been fighting a liberation war for more than half a century, which started in 1947. Fighting continues in remote forests on Burma's border with Thailand. Soldiers tattoo modern liberation symbols and slogans as well as ancient charm tattoos for protection - all part of a body language of defiance.

  • U Sein Lwin, a monk from Pakkoku, who taught himself how to tattoo, inks the image of a naga (a mythical snake king) on Win, a local snake catcher who wants the tattoo to celebrate his dangerous hobby. The monk inked the complex pattern instinctively without drawing a design first or referring to any designs as he worked. As his needle flashed in and out the ink splashed around the tattoo making it impossible to see the design develop until he wiped it away at the end, revealing a perfectly formed comedy-style snake.

  • U Sein Lwin, a monk from Pakkoku, who taught himself how to tattoo, inks the image of a naga (a mythical snake king) on Win, a local snake catcher who wants the tattoo to celebrate his dangerous hobby. The monk inked the complex pattern instinctively without drawing a design first or referring to any designs as he worked. As his needle flashed in and out the ink splashed around the tattoo making it impossible to see the design develop until he wiped it away at the end, revealing a perfectly formed comedy-style snake.

  • A python curls around a tattoo depicting a naga (a mythological snake king). This tattoo was inked for a snake catcher called Win who has been receiving 'innoculations' of tattoo ink mixed with snake venom for several years to protect him from being poisoned by a deadly snake bite.

  • Hsaya (master) U Soe Myint Swe – also known as the snake king because of his reputation for curing snake bite victims - tattooes a pupil with a mixture of tattoo ink and snake venom for protection. The hsaya and his pupils regularly catch venomous snakes to collect their venom, which they use to treat snake bite victims in Pakkoku.

  • A large python curls around a Burmese woodcarver called Shwe, and rests on his face. Shwe sports a range of tattoos designed to protect him from harm and injury, which could include puncture wounds such as those made with knives, guns and snake bite.