The Vanishing Portals of Myanmar by Julian Ray (Instagram | ello.co | website, click for larger view): Nikon D850, 24-70mm f/2.8 Mingun Pahtodawgyi Near Mandalay -The Mingun Pahtodawgyi (မင်းကွန်းပုထိုးတော်ကြီး, IPA: [mɪ́ɴɡʊ́ɴ patʰóu dɔ̀ dʑí]) is an incomplete monument stupa in Mingun, approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) northwest of Mandalay in Sagaing Region in central Myanmar (formerly Burma). The ruins are the remains of a massive construction project begun by King Bodawpaya in 1790 which was intentionally left unfinished. The pahtodawgyi is seen as the physical manifestations of the well-known eccentricities of Bodawpaya. He set up an observation post on an island off Mingun to personally supervise the construction of the temple. Dumbfounded! Staring in utter dismay, the idea for this project came to me a few years ago early one dark monsooming morning when I returned to a location I had shot just a couple of days before. Nikon D4, 24-70mm f2/8 A couple of days before I was exploring the innards of an old colonial building in the old consular section of downtown Yangon. I had a couple of hours before I was to start a commercial shoot documenting some architectural details of the restoration of this historic building, a stoic holdout to a British colonial era slowly decaying under the rains, molds, and vines of life as it is in Myanmar (Burma). I was looking forward to creating a better image of that door in better light but what I found instead was a new wall. The door was gone! Replaced with...
Published By: Nikonrumors - Sunday, 5 August, 2018