Hkun Lat 2019 Highly Commended
A KIA solider looking over the Myanmar military post through the scope at Zion frontline at border pillar 6, between China and Myanmar, in Kachin State, northern on 16, December 2018. The opposite posts between KIA and Myanmar military are only less than 20 meters apart. However, after 2013, they only observe each other from their positions on top of the mountains. © Hkun Lat
Military soldiers are seen through the scope from KIA’s post in Kachin State, northern Myanmar on 24, January 2019. Despite less than 20 meters apart, they are free to move around without having fear of being shot. © Hkun Lat
A KIA solider carries wood up to the post on the mountain at Zion frontline in Kachin state, northern Myanmar on 23, January 2019. Both sides are conscious of sharing the same hard and boring life, getting water from the frozen stream and wood from the bottom of the hill. © Hkun Lat
Captain Naw Mai calling the Myanmar soldiers out to meet at the Peace House in Zion frontline from his post, Kachin State, Myanmar on 24, June 2019. This is what they usually do to meet, chat and develop friendship under the hut. © Hkun Lat
A KIA soldier inspecting his rifle while cleaning at Zion frontline in Kachin State, northern Myanmar on 25, January 2019. One of the Myanmar soldiers said, “If we receive the order to fight again, we won’t shoot straight… We are brothers!” They have been using their rifles for hunting since 2013, whereas, other frontlines are intense and clashes occurred often. © Hkun Lat
A KIA soldier and a military soldier together watching music videos in “The Peace House,” a hut they built together in no man’s land near Zion frontline in Kachin State, northern Myanmar on 24, January 2019. In no man’s land, they form a friendship between each other. In “The Peace House” they exchange food, clothes, movies, take photos and drink together. © Hkun Lat
Kachin soldiers giving each other hair cuts at Zion Frontline in Kachin State, northern Myanmar on 14, June 2019. Zion post is one of the secluded frontlines. There is no electricity or mobile phone lines, which means the soldiers not able to contact their families for a few months. © Hkun Lat
Kachin soldiers burning a flying squirrel that they hunted to prepare for a meal. Discipline on the Tatmadaw side is very strict, but the Kachin soldiers are allowed to hunt at night to improve their rations and sometimes sell them to Myanmar soldiers. © Hkun Lat
Kachin soldiers having dinner at the Zion frontline, Kachin State, northern Myanmar on 13, June 2019. When rations are short in supply, the Kachin soldiers and Myanmar soldiers help each other by sharing food. © Hkun Lat
Kachin soldiers playing cards with bullets before they go to sleep. It is one of the entertainments for them to ease the boredom in Zion Frontline, Kachin State, Myanmar on 13, June 2019. © Hkun Lat
A portrait photo of Mai Mai, 23 years old, who quickly became friends with Myanmar soldiers at Zion post after he has arrived 12 days ago in Kachin state, northern Myanmar on 13, June 2019. When Myanmar soldiers need something, they call out his name or they sometimes call him Yawk Hpa, which means brother in law. Sometimes, he has to go and meet the Myanmar soldiers for 5 times a day. © Hkun Lat
Myanmar military post and Peace House (closer to the fence) seen from Kachin Zion post at the sunset after the rain in Kachin state, northern Myanmar on 13, June 2019. © Hkun Lat
The Peace House
‘The Peace House’ is a project that documents a place where something extraordinary happens: opponents from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar military, unlike other frontlines, are sharing their lives in a no man’s land. On the top of a mountain, 20-meters away from each other, these men have built a hut together called ‘The Peace House’. Witnessing this eye-opening situation inspired Lat to document and share this spark of hope of peace.
About the Photographer
Hkun Lat (b. 1996) is a documentary photographer from Myanmar. His career in photography began in 2011 after the civil war broke out again in Kachin State, Northern Myanmar. He started working as a freelance photojournalist. Two years later, at the age of seventeen, Lat began to make work on the Kachin conflict for news agencies and international non-government organizations, such as WWF, UNHCR, UNFAO, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and UNOCHA. Lat is a former stringer photojournalist at AP Images. Hkun Lat is a three times award winner, two 1st Prize and 2nd Prize, at the annual Yangon Photo Festival.