David Noton On Location

After an ambiguous flight David Noton enjoys a trip around Inle Lake in Burma in search of silk weaving women

After an ambiguous flight David enjoys a trip around Inle Lake in Burma in search of silk-weaving women

Inle Lake, Myanmar, Burma. 08:26am. 12 June 2012.

think we’re on the right plane, although I’m not entirely sure: boarding at Mandalay was chaos with indecipherable shouted announcements of

imminent departures. Some random official we assumed was a baggage handler disappeared with our luggage. Now the only indication we have that we are on the right flight to Heho is that everyone else has the same coloured stickers on their chest; it’s the follow-the-herd mentality, applied to air travel. If we’ve got it wrong and are actually bound for Yangon or Bangkok then so too are all of them. Ah well, what will be will be. We’re in laid-back travel mode. At least we seem to be flying south.

After a short 30-minute hop, we touch down somewhere I assume is Heho and disgorge to stand in the queue for immigration. Am I missing something here? This is an internal flight, isn’t it? I know being English means we’ll meekly form an orderly queue, even if we don’t know what it’s for, but this journey is getting increasingly surreal.

Wendy and I take the brave step of bypassing the queue and boldly wait for our baggage with triumphant rebellion in our hearts. The other passengers eventually join us as we all hang around the tiny terminal, glancing at each other bemusedly, baffled by the non-appearance of our luggage. We’re comforted by the fact no one else’s baggage has arrived either, but a seed of doubt is germinating: is there a possibility that we all erroneously followed the pinkstickered leader at Mandalay and all got on the wrong flight?

Wendy goes off hunting and comes back to report a few minutes later that all the bags have been dumped unceremoniously on the dusty road outside the airport gate. A fleeting moment of tearful nostalgia for the baggage retrieval hall at Heathrow quickly passes as we greet Sanda, our cheerful guide for the next leg of this Burma adventure. The sun is warm, the air is clear, and we’re back in the countryside. After the clamour of Mandalay, it’s a blessed relief.

For the next four days here we will be, pootling about by boat, shooting lakescapes and the aquatic people who live on and around beautiful Lake Inle. As we cross the lake for the first time I immediately feel at one with the area; water surrounded by mountains usually has that effect.

First item on the agenda this afternoon is a village on the shore where the inhabitants make their living weaving silk. It’s an interlude that sounds right up Wendy’s street, and while textiles are not exactly an enthusiasm of mine I’ve twigged by now it’s always worth tagging along on these jaunts… I may be presented with the opportunity to weave my own magic with a camera and a wrinkled artisan.

An hour later I’m kneeling in a light and airy workshop on stilts above the lake, EOS-1D X in hand, shooting 'the world’s most photogenic woman'. I’ve just mentally awarded that title, unhesitatingly, to this lovely Burmese lady who has been

weaving silk for over 50 years. She just can’t stop smiling at me. We’ve been in her place of work for some 20 minutes now and already I’ve shot a range of pleasing images, each one featuring her naturally beaming demeanour. That’s been the story all along here in Myanmar; the people just seem so happy to be photographed.

Now, she’s sat on the floor cross-legged, spinning as diffuse light from a doorway lights her face. Her look of contentment is tangible, she is without a doubt a woman happy in her work and obviously a lot more comfortable sitting cross-legged for long periods of time than I am. I check my ISO setting is high enough to shoot without having to worry about camera shake and fine-tune the composition to include her setting.

The props of her trade tell the story without cluttering the frame or detracting from her presence. The light, her expression, the strong shapes of the loom and her spinning wheel all combine perfectly. Instinctively I know I’ve just shot a winner. It’s a wonderful feeling, one that’s been prevalent on this trip. I just keep falling into situations like this.