Timing is a quality most often associated with the performing arts.
The ability of an actor or musician to know precisely when, or for how long to hold a beat, prolong a look, or let silence fill the room, can mean the difference between a good performance and a great one. Timing is virtually an invisible quality in the visual arts, but over the past few years Chan Chao's photographs have encouraged a wave of precise timing between individuals and organizations that have led to the production of this publication. From John Gossage, to the Open Society Institute, to Alice George, to Light Work, to JGS, Inc., and finally to Chris Pichler and the Nazraeli Press - Chao's photographs have helped us all find a way to collaborate in presenting this important body of work. Chan Chao's family left Burma for the United States when he was 12 years old. Eighteen years later Chao returned to Burma with the intention of rediscovering and reconnecting with the culture and people he had left years before.