Snap Judgments
Insight Myanmar31 Okt 2025

Snap Judgments

Episode #423: Ian Taylor is a Canadian photographer whose life shifted from the film industry to decades of work and travel across Southeast Asia. His first experience was with a government-sponsored Asian Studies program in the early 1990s. His early visits to Burma during the junta’s “Visit Myanmar Year” left a strong impression, and he became involved for a short time in advertising there.

By the late 1990s, Taylor had left advertising for photography, focusing on family portraits and NGO assignments across Asia. A formative volunteer trip to Bangladesh further deepened his commitment to humanitarian work, and led him back to Burma.

Taylor left the country in 2015, but reconnected in 2023 through the Thailand-based Border Consortium (TBC). He soon embarked on a volunteer photo project in five refugee camps, describing them as “an active, bustling town with everything.” His photography resists exploitative “poverty porn” and favors portraits that reflect dignity and agency. “Every portrait, in some way, it’s a collaboration.”

Critical of the tourism industry’s distortions, Taylor remains focused on authenticity, connection, and service. In his words: “If you could go to a holiday in the Maldives or something... well, I’d rather go [to a refugee camp]!”

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No Neutral Ground

No Neutral Ground

Episode #359: “The real motivating force is people, it is those human relations.” Duncan McArthur, a backpacker turned decades-long humanitarian leader, found his truth not in textbooks, but in the ra...

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Rewriting History

Rewriting History

Episode #358: The 4th International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies (ICBMS), hosted by Chiang Mai University in August 2024, brought together scholars, activists, and experts to discuss Myanmar's ...

27 Juni 20251h 4min

From Russia With Anxiety

From Russia With Anxiety

Episode #357: When Wai Yan Phyo Naing, a civilian scholar in Myanmar vocal against the human rights atrocities of the junta, received a scholarship from a Russian university to pursue his Masters, he ...

24 Juni 20252h 16min

When Silence Isn’t Noble

When Silence Isn’t Noble

Episode #356: Jonathan Crowley shares his experiences as an Assistant Teacher within the Vipassana Meditation Organization of SN Goenka. He participated in a culture that heavily prioritized rules and...

20 Juni 20251h 56min

Can’t Knock the Hustle

Can’t Knock the Hustle

Episode #355: “You need to pay attention to what the kids care about,” says Naomi Gingold. “It will inform so much about the place that you're trying to understand, be it politics, culture, all of it!...

17 Juni 20251h 46min

Over the Borderline

Over the Borderline

Episode #353: Professor Lahra Smith, a political science professor specializing in East Africa at Georgetown University, argues that Myanmar’s current struggles must be seen within a global framework ...

10 Juni 20252h

Bonus Episode: The Global Citizen

Bonus Episode: The Global Citizen

The Global Citizen Podcast recently featured a look at the work behind Insight Myanmar and Better Burma, which we bring you here as a bonus episode.

8 Juni 202547min

A Nation Interrupted

A Nation Interrupted

Episode #352: Nicholas Coppel’s tenure as Australia’s ambassador to Myanmar (2015–2018) provides a unique lens on the country’s transition toward democracy, as well as the enduring challenges posed by...

6 Juni 20251h 14min

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