Hkun Li
Hkun Li is a Kachin photographer born in Myitkyina, Kachin state in 1987. He was the first Kachin documentary photographer to become active in 2011 after the civil war broke out again in his native Kachin State. He started shooting independent projects so that people could witness ongoing and unsolved issues such as civil war, Internally Displaced People (IDPs), human trafficking, land grabbing and environmental problems such as the spread of banana plantations in Kachin State. He won the Yangon Photo Festival competition in 2020.
The Price of Bananas (2018 – ongoing)
Photography
I started documenting the banana plantation related issue three years ago. When banana plantations have been shut down in Laos by the Government because of the overuse of pesticides and chemicals, Chinese investors came to Kachin state. The excessive use of pesticides and chemicals not only harms the health of the workers, but also damages the land and the environment. During harvesting, they use a huge amount of plastic. Then, all the rejected bananas and pesticide bags are abandoned on the plantations, leaving the beautiful Kachin landscape devastated for years or most likely decades.
