Foreword

by Maureen Lipman CBE

Joey Bieber’s photographs of the people of Burma are the only pictures, aside from those of my children, that I keep permanently displayed in my study at home. Amongst the posters of stage productions which have caused my hair to grey and my crows feet to walk, over 32 years as an actor, I value them for the moments of quiet meditation they give me whenever I glance their way.

They show a kind of poise and acceptance of quiet dignity in a people who have every reason to be very angry.

Their history is fraught with domination and exploitation and their democratically elected leader, the gracious and courageous Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, is one of the world’s longest serving political detainees, even though the detention is virtually in her own house. We live in hope that one day the free world will exert the pressure needed to free the people of Burma, and hope is what Joey Bieber’s photos are all about. Hope springing eternally...

All of us who know Joey as a wife, mother of four and an exuberant enthusiast are particularly proud of her skill, patience and sensitivity as a photographer.