Burma – Something Went Wrong

“Burma is a golden land, the richest country in Asia, the envy of its neighbors; its people are the kindest, most hospitable on earth . . . ” With this often-heard description, Amitav Ghosh begins his afterword to Chan Chao’s stunning new portrait of his native land. Something Went Wrong puts a face to one of the most troubled and least understood countries of our world. Chao shows us a region in constant turmoil, whose people have been at war with themselves for generations, where violence and death, nevertheless, provide a backdrop to what is still a golden land. Chan Chao was born in Kalemyo, Burma in 1966, and moved with his family to the United States in 1978. Something Went Wrong is his first book, and is published in association with Light Work. “Chan Chao’s portraits are remarkable for the honesty with which they portray the plight of the people who are trapped in this terrible conflict. In his pictures one sees despair, defeat, suffering and incomprehension; one sees also the courage, fatalism and hope that has sustained this war for more than half a century. As valuable a record as Fenton’s pictures of the Crimean war, Capa’s photographs of World War II and Janah’s images of the Bengal famine of 1942.” – from the Introduction