Vietnam (North and South), 2008/10

Street vendor

Back breaking chore

Street Vendor

Waiting to charge

Busy

Not buying

Human power

Flag raising ceremony at Ba Ding Square

Vege seller

Buffalo 3

Sailing thru creek

Remedial class

Ha Long Bay 5

Ha Long Bay 7

Ha Long Bay 2 - Viewed from Ti Top Island

Endless

Vietnam is home to over 54 ethnic minorities tribes mainly residing in the highlands in Central and Northern Vietnam. They scratch a living mainly from farming, growing black beans, sweet potatoes and selling tapestries. Each tribe has its own unique style of clothing. They are poor, malnourished, hence diminutive in size. They are fiercely independent and are generally mistrustful of the Vietnamese, consequently few venture to the lowlands. Most tribes still speak their native dialect but they are equally conversant speaking Vietnamese. My picture here depicts 3 minority tribes that we visited. Red Dzao Their name denotes the use red to decorate their clothing. There are two unique features of this tribe. The first is that you can know how rich a woman is by the size of her hat. The second is that to be beautiful it is thought that women should have as little body hair as possible...thus they often shave their hair and eyebrows. Black Hmong Distinguished by their dark indigo clothing encrusted with intricate and elaborate embroidery in bright, contrasting colours. Their calves are bind to prevent this area from growing large and muscular. Small calves (and feet) are a sign of beauty for women. Women generally marry around the age of 16, at that time men often “steal” these young women and bring them to their homes. If the woman refuses to eat for three days she is let go to return to her home. Should she take food, she is “accepting” of the man and will likely marry. Flower Hmong Uniquely colourful for the exuberant bands of multi-coloured embroidery that decorate their clothing. They are known for their stunning needlework ( a highly prized traditional art).

Water transport

Mother and child - My mood was quite despondent when I saw the mother tending to the fields with a toddler in tow, shifting about the umbrella to shield the little one. To my surprise, she gave me a warm smile when she saw me photographing them. I like especially the rich colours but not so much about the "scene" The scenario reinforced me that the strongest magnet for a photographer is not just the final image but also the discovery about human being's determination in life and the will to strive for survival.

Padi 4

Pollution 2

Risky business

Street vendors

Ba Ding Square

Morning exercise - Grandma and grand daughter

Rap dancing

Flag raising ceremony at Ba Ding Square

Take your pick

Sailing thru creek

Ao Ba Ba - Common dressing in Southern Vietnam

Ha Long Bay3 - Viewed from Ti Top Islan

Mist of Sapa - There were mist and drizzle that can changed in a matter of minutes throughout the day in Sapa even in the month of June. I wasn't quite hopeful of any good night shots due to the heavy fog but at the end, I was quite pleased with my overall results.

Loafers - The street lights pierced thru' the cold and heavy fog and created "layers" of people. This would make a nice monochrome but resisted the conversion. I wanted to retain the natural tawny tone of that special night that I ever experienced.

A Black Hmong tribe

Rice planting - It is calculated that in order to cultivate a kilo of rice around 3,000 to 10,000 litres of water are needed. The spectacular mountainous rice fields of North Vietnam, ingenious fruit of integration of people together with its surrounding nature, were engraved by generations using ancient methods.

Reflection

Street crossing at Hanoi

Nice air bag

Perfect chaos

Street vendor 5

Relax

Homemade joss stick

Another day's routine

Just parked

Home made rice paper (for spring roll)

Buffalo 1

Vanity - caught this elderly woman doing her morning make-up thru an ajar door at a workers quarters.

Rice hat?

Remedial class

Gazebo in Vietnam

Ha Long Bay 4- One early morning as I woke up from our junk, I saw this woman paddling towards us intending to sell her provisions. I was so mesmerized by the vastness of the lake and I illustrate by isolating her to appear paddling in eternity.

Ha Long Bay 6

Ha Long Bay 1 - This was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site with 1960 islets, most of which are limestones. This scene supposed to be a sunset. I adjusted the in-camera colour temperature to simulate a cool sunrise !

Night shopping - Amid the heavy mist, we never relent and went out photographing in one of the nights. It was my first time experiencing such heavy fog and wasn't quite hopeful of any good shots. A few shots attempted here and there and voila, I got an iridescent sheen of the subject under the dazzling lamp post and the unexpected "catch" of the night.

Spreading rice for drying

A Black Hmong tribe