Twenty-three photos were sold during the first three days of a photo exhibition of children from Burma held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which began on January 7, according to Hong Sar, an ethnic Mon photographer whose works are included in the exhibit.

Each 8”x12” photo in the show is priced at 600 baht. However, some people who came to the exhibition paid more than the requested sales price, as all proceeds will be donated to help children from Burma.

Photo exhibition held in Chiang Mai, Thailand (Photo: Hong Sar)

The photo exhibition, titled “Dreams of Lost Children”, is fundraising event for children. The photos will be on display through the end of this month at Chiang Mai’s Second Floor Gallery and Café. The photos in the exhibition highlight the true life of Burmese children staying in poor conditions among abandoned garbage in a rural area near Mae Sot, Tak Province.

Photographer Hong Sar says, “I intended to highlight the lives of these poor children in order to get more attention from other people. The people [who see the photos] may be able to find ways to help them.

“There are children who have no parents living there. As they do not have parents, they have to struggle hard in their lives. I feel people should not ignore these poor children.

“If we all just ignore these children, it will be easy these children to fall into the hands of human traffickers,” he said.

Hong Sar is 28-years old, and is the first Mon photographer I know of to exhibit his work in Chiang Mai.

For him, he says that the camera is just a material. However, he uses his heart and memory to capture the type of images that he wants.

One of his favorite photos, which was also the first to sell on the first day of the exhibition, is of a child eating food among a pile of garbage at the dump. The child is eating alone, wearing only boots, and sitting in a squat position with a small spoon and plate.

“I had good feelings and emotions when I took this child’s photo. I knew people would respond to this image,” he said.

Born in Kyar Inn Seik Gyi Township of southern Karen State, Hong Sar’s family moved to Halockhani Mon Refugee Camp in 1998 after facing many human rights abuses.

Hong Sar’s father was a famous photographer in Kyar Inn Seik Gyi in the past. However, Hong Sar says that he would rather be a successful photographer than a famous one.

Two of his photographer friends, one from Indonesia and another from Lithuania, supported him to hold the photo exhibition, as he has had the dream for a long time, but could not afford the costs of the exhibition alone.

About fifty people attended the opening of the exhibition. All of the exhibited photos were taken during a three-month period in late 2011.

“I like being a photographer because one photo can tell many words to the people,” said Hong Sar.

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