9
Community Album
A collective portrait of community
“When we recall our past, we remember ourselves as modern people, embraced by our country despite the discrimination. Attitudes toward the Rohingya have changed, but when you reflect on the past, we didn’t see ourselves as different. We were just like everyone else, no different from our neighbors. When you look at these old photos, do you say, That looks like the Rohingya? No. Because we looked just like everyone else. We were just like everyone else in the country.”
Ambia (2024)
1980s
1979
1984
1974
1978
1970s
“This photograph was taken in 1976. It was my cousin’s wedding. All of the women are my relatives. Some are my sisters. Some are my sisters-in-law. It was a beautiful and happy wedding. My dress is called an acheik longyi. It was an expensive Burmese longyi. We used to wear Burmese dress all the time because we are Burmese, not from Bangladesh.
“Me, my sister and my niece, the three of us became teachers. We are all retired now. Only six of the women in the photo are still alive now.”
Daw Khin Hla
Wedding in Buthidaung, 1976
1964
1984
1965
1971
1972
1980
1960s
“This is my uncle. His last position was Deputy Police Chief. When I was young he was working in Rangoon. He received many awards from the Burmese government. He was very important because he helped many Rohingya students in Rangoon when they registered for university at the time, and he went door to door in his community to help raise funds for the students.
“He received a promotion and he was posted to the Mandalay Police Training Academy.”
U Ba Sein (2023)
Photograph of U Kyaw Zaw Aung, 1969
1969
1977
1988
1980
1970
1975
1982
“I look at this photograph and I can see my husband’s childhood. He graduated from university and became a doctor. He died over twenty years ago in Sittwe. The other children sitting and those standing are all relatives from the same family, like step brothers and sisters. When they grew up into adults, they lived in different places in Myanmar with their respective families. I know some of them are still alive but some have passed away.”
Anonymous (2024)
1980
1967
1973
1964
1982
1968
1984
1984
1978
1970
2012
1996
“They were my closest friends. We were on the beach in Maungdaw. We had all passed our matriculation exams. It was a moment I will never forget. Most of us had no choice but to leave our home. Now, we are all in different places around the world. It was the last time we had our photograph taken together.”
H, (2022)