Comments on: Jason Florio – The Long Fight for Kawtoolie https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/ burn is an online feature for emerging photographers worldwide. burn is curated by magnum photographer david alan harvey. Sat, 18 Jun 2016 11:11:56 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.4 By: florio https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-104312 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:57:29 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-104312 I just want to thank David and the Burn team for giving me the opportunity to show these images… and to thank everyone that has taken the time to make such thoughtful comments, as well as share links to other photographers who have also worked on this story.If anyone has any questions please drop me a line at : florio@floriophoto.com or to see more images from this project : http://www.floriophoto.com/#/new%20work/62%20years%20in%20the%20jungle%20/1

Happy New Year !
JF

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By: bob black https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103775 Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:10:17 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103775 nice to see Jason’s work at BURN…and (you can see i’ve been 2 1/2 months behind) so happy that both Herve and John have filled the details out…though too about the documentary that John has linked to..

anywway, happy that the story is being seen…and like all history all travail, all fights for home, whatever that is, is much more complex and slippery and elongated that we can begin…that even photogrpahy can begin to tell…

i too like the use of the obfuscated background…which links the work to pre-Renaissance painting techniques, but also serves to display the soldiers from their surrounding, a metaphor for both the focus of their bodies/limbs/faces, but also for the derangement of history’s tributaries…

thanks for burn for showing…

keep up the story Jason

cheers
bob

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By: monkeypoint https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103449 Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:45:36 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103449 My very good friend Chan Chao published a book on a similar (almost identical) subject in 2000:
http://www.vincentborrelli.com/cgi-bin/vbb/100646 (published by Nazraeli Press).

http://www.chanchao.net/portfolio/burma/images_burma.html

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By: Herve https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103411 Sun, 11 Dec 2011 02:57:06 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103411 Hey Will, Burma is very simple for travellers. Either a place is forbidden and you will not be able to get there, let alone set up your equipment, or it’s open to tourists and you can shoot all your hearts’ content (with the exception of military and govnmt installations/offices).

The other alternative, most likley not yours, is to do like Jason and quite a few other PJs or foreign supporters do, which is to find your very own alternative but illegal ways to enter regions where you are not suppposed to be, usually crossing the border thru jungle/mountains. Illegally again.

The Mae Sot chekc point between Thailand and Burma just re-opened. It may be only open for thais and burmese, not others tough, but that’s one way, with Mae sai to legally be in regions where ethnic hilltribes live.

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By: williameckersley https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103376 Sat, 10 Dec 2011 12:30:52 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103376 Wow – these are incredible…
I’m going to Burma next February and have just been reading up about the northern parts. Was it easy to move around up there and did anyone (police, etc) mind you photographing when further south? I’m hoping to use a field camera and tripod…
Also, my girlfriend was briefly taught by this guy, originally Burmese, whose photos you might like:
http://www.chanchao.net/portfolio/burma/images_burma.html
Best wishes,
Will

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By: billy_mac https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103337 Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:50:23 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103337 Hi Jason, thanks for sharing these.

Another interesting set of images on Burn.

I would agree that for me at least part of what sets these apart from other sets of portraits `in this style` is the semi-opaque background you used.
It drew me in. I felt it acknowledged, and alluded to, the preparation for the shots, in stark contrast with the apparent rawness of the people + location involved. Nice one.

Having said that, I did feel a bit sad when the series ended. I wanted to see more… perhaps shots of the people on the periphery of this situation, or even soldiers fighting on the other side if that`s remotely possible. Or maybe an even wider shot of what your ad-hoc studio looks like, as a closing image?

Either way, keep it up mate. Engaging stuff, and a worthwhile subject.
B

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By: eva https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103316 Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:27:41 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103316 Jason, Herve, John.. thank you!

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By: Gordon Lafleur https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103310 Fri, 09 Dec 2011 02:34:04 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103310 Herve
I have just watched Prayer of Peace. Thankyou for the link. Very moving…to pray for your oppressors, I’m humbled by this man.

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By: John Vink https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103303 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:07:56 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103303 Karen 20 years ago: http://is.gd/gShGxB
It also LOOKS peacefull.

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By: Herve https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103301 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:13:33 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103301 John Vink
———–
Jason: it looks peaceful….

Matt Blauer also did a docu which deserves to be seen, very humane, if gripping and haunting in the end. I think some of that peacefulness John talks about can be hinted upon looking at it. It’s 28 minutes, definitely putting a face on these forlorn people, a few tears on mine (too late to change now!) and the HD quality is superb, which is still uncommon on Ytube for docus:

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By: Brennan OConnor https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103281 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:42:17 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103281 Well done Jason. The project comes off strong. For me it was especially nice to see the portraits of these soldiers as I know most of them.
It is very hard to find a venue for these under reported stories. When someone, like yourself, successfully brings attention to these issues in the mainstream, “making those unseen be seen”, the effort must be applauded.
You also have some great photos of Karen civilians on your website!

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By: John Vink https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103276 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:54:32 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103276 Maybe this link is better: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1262405/

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By: John Vink https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103275 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:50:54 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103275 Jason: it looks peacefull.

Indeed Hervé: to me it is the scars, more than the weapons, which tell me who they are… How many more of those were inflicted since the last time I went there 20 years ago?

You might be interested in this from Nic Dunlop: http://www.burmasoldier.com/

Fyi: the man in picture 14 is not carrying a weapon but a tool used for threshing rice.

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By: Kyunghee Lee https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103251 Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:29:49 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103251 Jason,

I Love this work very much.
I feel some kind of nostalgia of jungle from the backgroud screen.
Very Nice match between the reality(potrait)and fantasy(background).

Thank you for nice work. :))
Kyunghee Lee

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By: Frostfrog https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103245 Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:28:43 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103245 zbd22222…

“These are beautiful images of a scene rarely seen…”

You’ve hit it. Very rarely seen. And never like this. What an accomplishment!

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By: Jerome C. https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103244 Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:10:05 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103244 I love this essay.
beautiful pictures (textures, colors, lights, shadows …)
the second subject of the half hidden background, like a movie
the third subject of them showing up their guns and tatoos

i feel like the most important aspect that made these pictures successfull isn’t the good technique, but maybe the way the photographer communicated with the subjects, because they seem all to be mirroring the photographer in the same way, calm (peaceful?) but stressed, determinated… You feel the tension as they look straight,
but at the same time each of them feels being unique character, to whom you can relate, not like stereotypes of gangsters, which might have been easy to feel with all this weaponery

very remarkable! showing almost nothing, but still evoking the whole conflict behind.
congratulations

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By: Gordon Lafleur https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103236 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:06:00 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103236 Andy
I would not call these portraits “idealized”, rather, they are formal portraits (with a twist), of un-familiar and un-likely subjects.
I find these portraits very moving. They likely tell me much more about these people than any documentry style photograph could. We can look into these faces and relate.

The concept of “idealized” portraits, of children or otherwise is a whole other topic. Is an idealized formal portrait any less or more valid, or any closer to the truth than a candid documentary style photograph?

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By: zdb22222222222 https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103235 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:17:25 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103235 again there seems to be a dearth of comments for an outstanding body of work. Why does this trend continue? What are we waiting for?? These are beautiful images of a scene rarely seen…

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By: Carlo https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103227 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:54:40 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103227 Great post Herve!
and thanks for clarifying on the Karen women.

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By: Andy Gray https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/12/jason-florio-the-long-fight-for-kawtoolie-a-quiet-determination-in-the-jungles-of-burma/#comment-103225 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:37:24 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=10085#comment-103225 BTW, I wonder why do I like these “idealized” portraits of freedom fighters and not idealized portraits of children? Because here it’s ironic, a built in tension that increases the more you look.

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