Research Guides: Early Photography in Asia: Myanmar (Burma)

Rare and Distinctive Collections

rad@colorado.edu

Website

Classroom: Norlin N345

Reading Room: Norlin M350B

Rare Books Librarian

Sean Babbs

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East Asian Librarian

Xiang Li

Contact:

xiang.li@colorado.edu

(303) 492-7454

Subjects: Asian Languages & Civilizations

Introduction

The University of Colorado Boulder Libraries holds a variety of original early photographs of Myanmar (Burma). As a British colony in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (officially part of British India until 1937 when it became its own administrative unit), the photographs are overwhelmingly from a colonial/western perspective. Therefore, although important documentary evidence of life in the region, it is important to view these images with a critical eye and consider how these photographs often reinforce colonial ideologies, orientalism, and contribute to an “othering” of local people.

There are not currently many available digital archives of Myanmar from the colonial period.

Western photographers

8 Photographs of the Karen Ethnic Group in Myanmar (Burma), 1865-1880
Note: link goes to the digitized album.
8 photographs of the Karen people in Myanmar/Burma (p. 61-65) in an album presumably made by a British citizen that is mostly filled with images from Europe.
Set of 19 Photographs of British Colonial Burma (Myanmar), 1885-1895
Note: link goes to the digitized photographs.
A set of 19 photographs of British colonial Burma (Myanmar), very likely taken by British colonists who lived in the area in the late 19th century. One of the photographs in the set is of a group of British people outside a large mansion, who may have been those taking the photographs.
Photographs of colonial-era Myanmar (Burma), 1890-1900
Note: not digitized, link goes to the catalog record.
A collection of 47 gelatin silver photographs taken in British colonial Myanmar (Burma) in the late nineteenth century, likely owned by a French traveler or colonial agent in Indochina. Many images focus on Burmese people and culture, including Buddhist religious groups, monasteries, and ceremonies. Specific locations include Yangon (sheets 5-6), Myanaung (sheet 7), Mandalay (sheets 8-19), Amarapura (sheet 21), Tharrawaddy (sheets 22-23), and Bhamo (sheet 24). A final set of images include portraits and group photographs of various Burmese peoples (sheets 31-42).
Photograph album of Mandalay and Upper Myanmar, c. 1900-1909
Note: not digitized, link goes to the catalog record.
A photograph album of people and places in colonial Myanmar (Burma), likely created by British colonial agent in the early 20th century. About half of the photographs document people and buildings in Mandalay, while the other half depicts people, villages, and the Burma-China boundary region in Upper Myanmar. The photographs of people range from candid landscape shots to group portraits of local peoples.
Photograph album of a Canadian engineer, 1913-1924
Note: not digitized, link goes to the catalog record.
A photograph album of a Canadian engineer who traveled widely in the early twentieth century. The final group of photographs in the album include images of Myanmar (Burma), where he was working to find oil in the country.
George West Philleo Photograph Albums, 1917-1924
Note: link goes to the digitized albums.
George West Philleo, an American engineer, worked in Myanmar (Burma) and China between 1917 and 1924. CU holds four of his photograph albums from this period and a daily journal. The photographs and albums are mostly unlabeled, making it difficult to discern exact locations, but volume 2 and 3 include images from Myanmar (Burma).

There are not currently many online archives of digitized, original photographs of colonial-era Burma.

Myanmar Photo Archive
An archive of original photographs from Burmese photographers. Most date from after World War II and independence, but a few document the colonial period in the early 20th century.
Library of Congress Digitized Photographs
Search keywords like "Burma photograph."
39 photos by Philip Klier
A small digitized collection of photographs by the German photographer Philip Adolphe Klier, who operated photo studios in Burma in the late 1800s and early 1900s.