The traditional boat stern, or anus, of the Myanmar sea-gypsies, the nomadic hunter-gatherers of South East Asia.
The people shown in these photographs are Moken, the nomadic sea-gypsies found off the South-West coast of Myanmar. They are found in transient villages throughout the Islands known as the Mergui Archipelago, located in the Andaman Sea. They live an almost entirely sea-related existence, hunting and gathering from the ocean rather than living as conventional fishermen. This style of life, fishing an area for a short time and moving on ,prevents depletion of sea life and has been a highly successful sustainable way of life for hundreds of years. The Moken are incredibly comfortable in the water and their children, in particular, grow up playing in it almost every day. To the Moken, their boats are living creatures and are designed as such. It is believed that to stay alive, the boats / ships, must be able to eat and excrete as they sail the sea. Thus, they have a mouth and an anus; the detail shown here is the boat's arse.
Size: 3366px × 5050px
Location: Andarman Sea, Mergui Archipelago, South-East Asia, Myanmar (Burma)
Photo credit: © Justine Evans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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