The remote tribal women of Myanmar and their facial tattoos
By Globaltimes.cn, Published: 2016-05-17 17:13:42
A woman (right) with a spiderweb-like facial design from Myanmar’s Chinn tribe, February 2015.
Editor's Note:
The custom of tattooing women’s faces in remote tribes of Myanmar is gradually vanishing due to government restrictions. The tradition, according to the photo agency Visual China, was first invented to prevent beautiful women from being targeted by gangsters, and over time it became seen as a sign of beauty in its own right. Facial tattoos were officially banned by the Myanmar government in the 1950s, meaning the number of surviving tattooed women is slowly dwindling. French photographer Eric Lafforgue visited Myanmar’s remote Chinn, Rakhine and Arakan tribes in February 2015, and captured these rare images of the last remaining traditional facial tattoos. Photos: CFP

A woman with a spiderweb-like facial design from the Chinn tribe.
A woman with a spiderweb-like facial design from the Chinn tribe.
A group of women with B-shaped tattoos on their faces from the Muun tribe in the hills of Arakan state.
A woman with B-shaped tattoos on her face from the Muun tribe. Dots, lines and occasionally circles make up the whole design.
A woman with B-shaped tattoos on her face from the Muun tribe.
A woman whose whole face is covered with tattoos comes from the U Pu tribe in Kanpelet village. The full-face design is rare.
A tattooed woman plays a wooden flute with her nose.