Hla Myint Swe is an artist, photographer and author from Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

. He was born in Bamaw, Kachin State

Kachin State

Kachin State , is the northernmost state of Burma. It is bordered by China to the north and east; Shan State to the south; and Sagaing Division and India to the west. It lies between north latitude 23° 27' and 28° 25' longitude 96° 0' and 98° 44'. The area of Kachin State is . The capital of the...

, Myanmar in 1948. He attended the Defence Services Academy

Defence Services Academy

The Defence Services Academy located in Pyin Oo Lwin, is the premier military service academy of Myanmar, training future officers for all three branches of Burmese military. The Ministry of Defence administered academy offers bachelor's degree programs in liberal arts, combined physical sciences,...

, Pyin Oo Lwin and after graduating served in various positions as an army officer. As of 2010, he was head of the Public Relations and Information Department of the Yangon

Yangon

Yangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...

 City Development Committee.

Artistic work

Hla Myint Swe works in watercolor, oil, acrylics and photography. He is best known for his lifelike ink drawings, particurly of the national races, in which he tries to capture the personality and mood of his subject through a drawing of the face or full figure. He came to use this medium while serving in the army, since he could sketch anywhere with no more than a ballpoint pen. His Spiritual Soulfulness of Myanmar (1997), is a collection of essays and photographs from the Myanmar Theravada

Theravada

Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...

 perspective.
An English-language version of the book was issued in June 2008. Myanmar National Tribes is a collection of sketches showing the dresses and life-style of nationalities such as Lisu, Wa, Naga, Akha, Chin, Jingphaw, Padaung and Shan.

For his seventh book, Buddham Dhammam Samgham: Buddhist faith in Myanmar, published in December 2009, Hla Myint Swe travelled through Myanmar and Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

 to take the photographs. In Nepal, he photographed the pilgrimage site of Lumbini

Lumbini

Lumbinī is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi district of Nepal. It is the place where Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama, who as the Buddha Gautama founded the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha lived between roughly 563 and 483 BCE...

, considered the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, the Nepalese prince who later founded the Buddhist tradition.
Other photographs show Buddhist monks, nuns, temples and pagodas as well as spectacular local scenery.

Government position

As head of the Yangon City Development Committee's public relations and information department, he is also head of the City FM radio station. In February 2004 the station launched the Hello! FM program in which experts would give answers to questions mailed in by the audience, such as on the procedures to follow to open a shop or obtain a building permit. His department also runs The Monitor, a newspaper. Discussing press freedom in October 2010, he noted that "There is no country that has absolute freedom of the press," going on to say that "In some situations it’s right that some information is not released". But he also noted that due to the centralist government structure, many civil servants were afraid to speak to journalists since action could be taken against them, and said he had experienced this himself.