Bio
_jp.jpg)
Based in Yangon, Myanmar
+95 995 391 7707
Matias Bercovich (b. 1995) is a documentary photographer and National Geographic Explorer whose work focuses on the intersection between environmental governance, ethnic conflict, and the politics of preservation in Myanmar. At present, his documentation explores community-based conservation initiatives by indigenous Karen people within the national context of the peace process, and in the midst of a push for large development projects in ethnic minorities's areas containing some of the remaining wilderness in the Indo-Burma region.
From a family line of photographers Matias grew up surrounded by images thus was first introduced to photography in 2009 at an early stage of his youth when he started crafting a passion for the medium. Later on from 2013 to 2017 he delved into the formal study of visual storytelling through specialized programs in Argentina and Spain along following his BA Photography at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Netherlands. His work has been published in international media outlets such as Al Jazeera, Clarín, Photo District News (PDN) and Frontier Magazine. More recently, he was nominated by the World Press Photo Foundation for the 2020 Joop Swart Masterclass, and awarded with the National Geographic Society Early Career Grant to continue his long-term work in Myanmar.
In parallel with personal documentary projects, Matias has a strong interest in education and since 2017 has been training aspiring photographers, visual journalists and social activists through storytelling trainings in Spain and Myanmar, both independently and in collaboration with non-profit and community-based organizations.
News and publications
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY EARLY CAREER GRANT RECIPIENT
National Geographic Society's Exploration Grant is supporting Matias' storytelling and research project in the Salween Peace Park over 2020-21.
GROUP EXHIBITION, YANGON PHOTO
Collective exhibition by KESAN on display
from February 22nd to March 11th 2020 at
Mahabandoola Park, Yangon.
EXHIBITION MONSOON [+OTHER] GROUNDS
The Gyo Byu Pipeline Initiative exhibited in the Monsoon Assemblages Project Symposium at the Architecture and the Built Environment - University of Westminster in London.
This article discusses the establishment of the Salween Peace Park in Karen State, Myanmar.
PHOTO ESSAY "GYO BYU" ON FRONTIER MAGAZINE
This photo essay by Frontier Myanmar reflects on the motivations and purposes behind the ongoing long-term project I'm working in Yangon, Myanmar, in collaboration with architecture group Blue Temple.
"STRAY DOGS WALK THE RED CARPET" GROUP EXHIBITION
Over the course of one week 35 photography students from the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague, NL, embarked on a journey in and around one of the biggest melting pots in the Balkans: Sarajevo! During the week the students split up and went their own way, wandering the streets and homes of Sarajevo in search of stories. This resulted in a variety of perspectives, opinions and visions on a vast lands with rich cultural and ethnic diversity.
