French photographer Coco Neuville is best known for her fashion portraits and series; however, in 2014 she traveled throughout Myanmar to document the lives of the country’s ethnic minorities. Thanks to the women and their fashion, the photographer reveals a multicultural society whose diversity is under threat. More information can be found in the current issue of LFI, on sale now.
Q: Your work reveals the diversity of ethnic minorities in Myanmar, but your pictures do much more than just catalog existing ethnic groups. What was the intention behind the project?
A: I wanted to report on the country’s cultural diversity, which is currently threatened by Myanmar’s constitution. When preparing the project and documenting the more than 130 ethnic groups, I realized that most of these groups have clear physical distinctions. I then naturally thought of approaching women to experience the level in which fashion – or what we understand as fashion in the West – in Myanmar is primarily a statement that says “I am.”
Q: Is your project about fashion photography or about reportage?
A: The project aims to report on the cultures of the groups, and I guess I was drawn by both genres. It is reportage in the sense that nothing was touched up or set-up, no props were added, and there were no expectations of any kind. These women were photographed in their own clothes, within their own context. It was also really impressive to witness what clear awareness they have of their own image, and they definitely use their clothes as an asset to stand out in the best possible way.
Q: Why Myanmar?
A: Over 135 ethnic groups live there. The Myanmar constitution has grouped them into eight “national ethnic races” and, denying their rights, offers no protection to the many individual groups. Tragically, the Rohingya made it into the news by being referred to by the United Nations as “the most persecuted minority in the world.” Numerous leaders of these ethnic groups have expressed their concerns that the government is attempting to wipe out the cultural diversity of the peoples of Burma – a country that still has one of the worst human rights records in the world.
Q: How long did you spend traveling throughout the country?
A: I spent several months traveling throughout the country. The different groups I wanted to approach lived in villages that took weeks to reach. Each journey necessitated several different means of transport including plane, SUV, pirogues, and, for the most part, ended up with a few hours on foot. One of my daily concerns was to find a power source to recharge my camera batteries. The authorities were also a hindrance: I was intercepted many times and had to explain that I was a fashion designer (which I had also declared on my visa) looking for inspiration among these different ethnic groups. I have to say that my photographic approach came into play at that point, and really helped when the police looked at my pictures – there was nothing there they could condemn or identify as a criticism of the authorities. All I was doing was taking pictures of women.

Q: As a fashion photographer you normally work with professional models. How was it to work with the women of Myanmar?
A: When working with professional models, I tend to try and find the woman behind the well-rehearsed and self-aware poses. I’m looking for true expressions that hint at real feelings. I constantly find myself musing on that perfect expression I could have caught, and that’s probably what keeps me going: it’s a quest, a continuum. For the model, the context is also very different; it is completely made-up and the pictures are someone else’s story telling. For all of these reasons, working with the women of Myanmar was essentially different. The story is fundamentally about who they are – so they owned our photo shoots, in a true and natural way. They also had control over the resulting images – they were my bosses!
Q: What kind of a relationship do the women of Myanmar have to their clothes?
A: Most of these ethnic groups are identified by the way they dress. Each group’s outfits are very distinct one from the other. They have meaning and hold a story of traditions and beliefs. The Pa’O women wear dragon-like clothes in honor of the Dragon Mother. The Chin women tattoo their faces to avoid being taken for their beauty. In other groups, young women are dressed in the same clothes until the day they get married, after which they wear another outfit for the rest of their lives. One of the Akha women I spent time with gave me her maiden outfit when I left. When I look at it I have the feeling she gave me a part of herself.

Q: Black teeth, tattooed faces: which characteristic feature impressed you the most?
A: I was really impressed by all of these features and fascinated by the stories of traditions and beliefs behind each one of them. The Chin women with their meaningful tattooed faces were not, however, very impressed with the tattoo I have on my forearm. Their reaction was pretty funny, as if they thought it was something like child’s play.
Q: What did you learn from the women of Myanmar?
A: The women of Myanmar taught me how fundamental it is to identify with a culture and encouraged me to keep reporting on the endangered diversity of their country.
Thank you for your time, Coco!
– Leica Internet Team
See more of Coco’s work on her website. View more in LFI. Also available for the iPad and Android.