Without an H

Photography from south-east Asia by Jon Sanwell

Archive for ‘Dec, 2011’

Second Impressions of Saigon

I’ve been in Saigon for two months now, and it feels like time to take stock.  I was going to write about the differences between Saigon (as Ho Chi Minh City is still commonly called) and Hanoi, but it feels too early to do that just yet.  I need to feel more settled here before I can make a proper comparison.

I lived in Hanoi for two and a half years and felt very comfortable there, but I always thought that I took my best pictures when I left the city.  My favourite shots from that time were taken in Sapa, Bac Ha, Hoi An, Cambodia, even the outskirts of Hanoi, rather than the centre.  Perhaps there’s something about familiarity with a place which makes it harder for me to take good pictures there.

These pictures of Saigon were all taken in the last couple of months.  I can’t really call them first impressions, as I spent a fair amount of time here before coming here to live.  So these are second impressions – some of the scenes, people and details that have caught my eye.  How will my pictures of Saigon change as I become more familiar with the city?  Time will tell.

Round and round (POTW #8)

 

Does it count as a portrait if you can’t see her face?  I don’t know, and I don’t suppose it really matters.   I don’t normally like to loom over people when I take their picture, but I liked the pattern created by the hat and the tray, and the shapes made by her hand sweeping through the rice.

This was taken this weekend in Cholon, which is fast becoming my favourite area of the city to take pictures in.  The area is known as Saigon’s Chinatown and has markets, pagodas and streetlife aplenty.