Prison Camps in Northern Myanmar/ M10
Lu Nan
吕楠
Production date
2006
Object Detail
Media
gelatin silver print
Measurements
27 x 40 cm
Notes
In June 2006 Lu travelled to the Yang Long Zhai Prison Camp, in Myanmar, where he spent almost four months photographing the inmates, most of them incarcerated for drug addiction and drug trafficking offences. The prison is in Shan State, Myanmar, bordering Yunnan Province; the majority of the population are Chinese-speaking Shan people, descendants of Han immigrants from China. The resulting series, shot on black and white film like all Lu’s photographs, provides a glimpse of a shocking reality that most would prefer not to see. Lu’s photographs are never voyeuristic or sensationalised, and his subjects are not treated simply as the objects of his photographic gaze; rather, he endeavours to see the humanity in every individual upon whom he focuses his lens. These people have suffered war and poverty, living in areas controlled by local warlords. When the local government banned the cultivation of opium poppies in 2003, the average income dropped by 80%, and, according to Lu Nan, all subsequent attempts to replace poppies with other crops have failed, leaving the people desperately impoverished.
Lu spent weeks with the Yang Long Zhai Prison Camp inmates without using his camera, until they accepted his presence. Then he began to record every aspect of their daily lives. The excruciating suffering of people withdrawing from addiction without medical assistance of any kind is disturbing, as are the photographs of mothers with their tiny babies. Lu shot five hundred rolls of film, resulting in a series of photographs that bears witness equally to human cruelty and human vulnerability. All the people in these photographs are chained at the ankles, the size and weight of their chains (made in China, to the strict specifications for Chinese prisons) in direct proportion to the length of their sentence. Yet, under Lu’s gaze they retain their dignity, despite their lack of privacy and the squalor of their surroundings.
Lu spent weeks with the Yang Long Zhai Prison Camp inmates without using his camera, until they accepted his presence. Then he began to record every aspect of their daily lives. The excruciating suffering of people withdrawing from addiction without medical assistance of any kind is disturbing, as are the photographs of mothers with their tiny babies. Lu shot five hundred rolls of film, resulting in a series of photographs that bears witness equally to human cruelty and human vulnerability. All the people in these photographs are chained at the ankles, the size and weight of their chains (made in China, to the strict specifications for Chinese prisons) in direct proportion to the length of their sentence. Yet, under Lu’s gaze they retain their dignity, despite their lack of privacy and the squalor of their surroundings.
Accession number
2011.145