Patterns of Irrawaddy

Zay Yar Lin is a Myanmarese photographer who was born and lives in Yangon. When he is not sailing the seas (he’s a boat captain by trade), he is traveling the world looking for photographic stories to tell. Completely self-taught, he has never taken a photography class but learned everything on the internet or via social networks. He works carefully on his compositions, putting lots of colour, and nearly systematically includes a human presence in his photos. Because more than landscapes, what interests him are “the interactions between a place, a culture, and a people.” He explains, “my photos seek to take you to a place you have never been, to show you landscapes you have never seen, and to introduce you to people that you will never meet.” Since 2014 and his first steps in photography, he has come a long way. He was published in National Geographic, twice won photographer of the year in Myanmar (2015 and 2017), and in 2018 was the laureate of the photo competition of the OMI (International Maritime Organisation) and won the Grand Prix of the American Photography Open.