‘The skill of the fishers with their foot-controlled oars was miraculous’: Alahattin Kanlioğlu’s finest cellphone image | Pictures

Alahattin Kanlioğlu had labored within the school of communications at Ege University in Izmir, Turkey, for greater than twenty years earlier than he took this picture. A images specialist, he first visited Myanmar in 2019, and was so captivated by the area that he returned in December 2025 to host a images workshop. As a part of the journey, the group of six visited Inle Lake, within the Shan Hills.

“The people of this region live in wooden houses built on tree stumps. Some surround the lake, but others are on the water, as if they’re floating,” Kanlioğlu says. “Agriculture and fishing are two of the main livelihoods here and, uniquely, the fishers use foot-controlled oars to steer the boat, keepinga hand free for their catch.”

Two of those fishers are pictured right here, together with an area lady and three Buddhist monks. Kanlioğlu staged the shot along with his college students to reveal the talent of the boys, and the way the monks obtain their day by day meal. “They walk from their temples early in the morning carrying earthenware bowls. This photograph accurately depicts them receiving food donations from a woman selling flowers on the lake,” he says.

Kanlioğlu says he admires the fishers and their craft, including, “It’s understandable that people who have been born into this culture and immersed in water since childhood have such developed abilities, but it’s miraculous for foreigners like me to witness it.”