Myanmar: See the True Cost of Burmese Jade


Nov 6, 2015 | Charlie Campbell, Time
View Original

For the Chinese, jade’s luster represents good fortune, prosperity and longevity. For impoverished Burmese toiling in squalid mines, it represents escape, or at least the dream of it. The reality, as captured by Burmese photographer Minzayar Oo, is that as Burma emerges from a half-century of military dictatorship, with landmark general elections on Sunday, this precious stone is all about the Southeast Asian nation’s enduring misery.