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In the remote villages of mountainous northwestern Myanmar (formerly Burma) photographer Eric Lafforgue discovered a tattoo culture that will soon no longer exist. The women of the Muun, Magan and Chin tribes once covered their faces with elaborate facial tattoos, some would cover the entirety of their face with the ink, but the younger generations have not carried on the tradition due to harsh laws.
The military junta that came to power in the 1960s banned the practice. Women who got the tattoos were fined half a cow, an astronomical amount of wealth for the people living in these villages. The fear of these fines and pressure from Christian missionaries in the area made it so very few younger women mark themselves with the ink. And those young women who have decided to get the tattoos were afraid to be photographed, according to Lafforgue.
The majority of women with facial tattoos that Lafforgue encountered are in their eighties and are truly the last of their kind. Their seem to be three main styles of tattooing—those that have their entire face covered, those that have lines not unlike a spiderweb, and those with lines and dots covering the face. Some women, but not all, also have circular tattoos on their necks. These were seen as a sign of strength since it is such a painful area to be tattooed, according to Lafforgue.
It is interesting to note that these women don’t have ink anywhere else on their bodies, just on the face and (sometimes) neck. Since tattooing of the face is still seen as a taboo throughout much of our increasingly tattoo-friendly society it is a shock to encounter people who only tattoo that area. It is also very sad to see that one of the last ancient tattoo traditions will likely be gone and forgotten in not too many years due to an intolerant government.
You can see more of Lafforgue’s photos here.
The post A Tattoo Tradition on the Brink of Extinction appeared first on Inked Magazine.