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Alahattin Kanlioğlu had worked in the faculty of communications at Ege University in Izmir, Turkey, for more than two decades before he took this image. A photography specialist, he first visited Myanmar in 2019, and was so captivated by the region that he returned in December 2025 to host a photography workshop. As part of the trip, the group of six visited Inle Lake, in the Shan Hills.

“The people of this region live in wooden houses built on tree stumps. Some surround the lake, but others are on the water, as if they’re floating,” Kanlioğlu says. “Agriculture and fishing are two of the main livelihoods here and, uniquely, the fishers use foot-controlled oars to steer the boat, keepinga hand free for their catch.”

Two of these fishers are pictured here, along with a local woman and three Buddhist monks. Kanlioğlu staged the shot with his students to demonstrate the skill of the men, and how the monks receive their daily meal. “They walk from their temples early in the morning carrying earthenware bowls. This photograph accurately depicts them receiving food donations from a woman selling flowers on the lake,” he says.

Kanlioğlu says he admires the fishers and their craft, adding, “It’s understandable that people who have been born into this culture and immersed in water since childhood have such developed abilities, but it’s miraculous for foreigners like me to witness it.”