Photo 92/10(69)

Genre: Ethnographical Photography

Full-length standing portrait of four young Akha (Kaw) women (the two at the back largely concealed), wearing traditional dress: 'The Akha are the most numerous and widely distributed of the hill tribes of Kengtung. They are not found west of the Salween...The dress of the women is much more distinctive, and varies according to the different clans. As a general thing, it consists of a short coat which stops a long way short of the next garment - a sort of kilt rather than a petticoat, which reaches from the waist to a point somewhat above the knee, and has a singular aptitude for getting unhitched. The head-dress varies with the clans, and with most is rather striking. The simplest form is two circlets of bamboo - one going around the top of the head horizontally and the other fastened to it at an acute angle, so as to go round the back of the head. These are covered with dark blue cotton stuff, and are ornamented with studs and bosses and spangles of silver, arranged sometimes in lines, sometimes in a pattern...' (J.G. Scott, 'Burma, A Handbook of Practical Information' (London, 3rd edition, n.d.), pp. 102-103. See also print 70.

[Gelatin silver print, 121x184mm].

Subjects = Akhas (ethnic group); ethnic groups; Kaws