Without an H

Photography from south-east Asia by Jon Sanwell

Archive for ‘Mar, 2012’

Up with the sun

Vietnam is a nation of early risers. In the cities and countryside alike, people are up with the sun. It’s not uncommon for dissolute expats to make it home in the early hours, just as their Vietnamese neighbours are going out to face the new day. When I lived in Hanoi, my alley turned itself into a small fresh food market every morning; I knew I’d had a long night when I came home to find market traders setting up outside my front door.

Saigon’s parks are often at their busiest in the early mornings, when the sun is low in the sky. People of all ages gather to take all kinds of exercise – jogging, walking, badminton, aerobics, martial arts, ballroom dancing – before the working days begins. I’m not naturally an early riser myself, but back in January I made a few early morning visits to my local park to take a few pictures.

I don’t take that many black and white pictures, but with these I wanted to see if I could capture the feel of the early morning sun without the benefit of colour.

Fruit market portrait (potw #22)

I haven’t taken that many pictures in Saigon recently, but I’m hoping that moving to a new neighbourhood will inspire me.  This was taken outside Tan Dinh market on Hai Ba Trung, which I’m expecting will become a regular destination for me in the coming months.

This blog has gained a lot of new followers over the last couple of days, thanks to my ‘Mekong Delta portraits’ post being featured on Freshly Pressed.  Welcome everybody and thanks for the support – I hope that you’ll continue enjoying the blog.

The little differences

Two days in two of south-east Asia’s capital cities, two months apart. In January, I passed through Phnom Penh on my way back from my Mekong trip. Last weekend, I went back to my old home of Hanoi for the first time in more than a year. I didn’t take that many pictures on either occasion – in Phnom Penh, I was winding down after two weeks away, and in Hanoi I had some important drinking to do.  I got a few shots that I like though, and I thought they might make a nice ‘compare and contrast’ exercise.  Forgive me, I’m an English teacher.  Phnom Penh is in colour and Hanoi is in black and white.

The Sandwich Lady and other pictures

Late December and early January in Saigon.  Looking at these pictures again, I wish – not for the first time – that my Vietnamese was better, so that I could write a little about these people and their stories.  

Twinkle

The number 8

Cafe culture

…

The boys in blue

Driving lessons

Cigarette break

Dapper gent

Sandwich lady

Afternoon sun

 

A bit of a blur

Bamboo bridge, Kompong Cham

The bamboo bridge in Kompong Cham only exists for half the year.  In the wet season it’s destroyed by the rising waters of the Mekong, and then built again from scratch once the rains have stopped in December.  This happens every year.  I’m going to have to go back to Kompong Cham one December, just so that I can see it being built.  The bridge stretches from the town, on the west bank of the Mekong, to the island of Koh Paen in the middle of the river.  It’s completely dwarfed by, and rendered almost ludicrous by, the massive new road bridge that arcs over the river’s entire width.

The strangest thing about the bamboo bridge is that you can hear it from a distance.  The bamboo poles rattle and creak as pedestrians, bicycles, motorbikes, cars and – alarmingly – great big SUVs travel over it.  I chose to cycle over, which was fine so long as I didn’t look left or right, or stop to consider what the hell I was doing.  The sound of the bridge is even louder once you are actually on it of course, and you can also feel it moving underneath your wheels, especially when being overtaken by a great big SUV.  These vehicles are almost as wide as the bridge itself and, as in all countries of the world, are driven by those blissfully unaware of the existence of other people, so you have to be careful as they pass not to topple over into the water, or impale yourself on bamboo.

Cycling over the bamboo bridge is the sort of experience that I might have avoided in the past, due to my esssential wussiness, but I’m very glad I did it.  My only regret is that I made the return journey too soon, and was in the wrong place for sunset.  That picture will have to wait for my next visit, but here are some others to be going on with, starting with some morning silhouettes.

Mekong days, Cambodia

After a week in the Mekong Delta in the south of Vietnam, I crossed the border into Cambodia for a slightly different taste of Mekong life, in the riverside towns of Kompong Cham and Kratie, north east of Phnom Penh. One day, I want to travel the length of the Mekong, from southern China all the way down to the delta, with unlimited time and unlimited memory cards. One day. In the meantime, I’ll have to content myself with occasional short trips like this one, in January this year.

Looking at these pictures again today has made me recall some of the other sensations and impressions of the trip that I couldn’t capture on camera: being sunburnt enough to feel a tingle but not so much to hurt; the smell of tobacco plants producing puzzling nostalgic cigarette cravings; long, uncomfortable, oddly enjoyable bus journeys with Khmer pop drowning out the music from my iPod; the pleasant ache in limbs unaccustomed to cycling; happily cancelling out the benefits of said cycling with giant bottles of Angkor beer; confirming my belief that three days in one place is far better than two; unwittingly providing the entertainment by losing my footing in a fishmarket.

Saigon skyline (potw #20)

Sunday evening was my first time out shooting with a tripod, and my first attempt at long-exposure photography. I mostly shoot on the streets and in markets, often in quite tight spaces where a tripod would weigh me down and get in the way. I like to be able to react quickly and be mobile when I’m out with my camera, so I normally just carry a small shoulder bag containing a DSLR, one or two lenses and a good book. For the kind of shots I usually take, if there is not much available light, I’ll crank up the ISO and/or use my 50mm or 85mm prime lens at a wide aperture, so that I can still hand-hold the camera.

I like to think that I can be spontaneous when I’m taking pictures, but I also recognise that there are times when I need to be more considered, think more and shoot less. And this is why using a tripod was great practice for me. It made me slow down and really think about composition and camera settings for each shot. I didn’t always get it right, but the thinking part was important. Thinking is good.

Overall, I’m quite happy with my first attempts at night-time shooting, though I still have a lot to learn, particularly about getting my focus right. I’m fairly sure that people pictures will remain my favourite kind of photography, and I certainly won’t be taking my tripod with me everywhere I go, but it’s always good to try something new. It’s got me thinking about photography in a slightly different way, so I think it was 800,000 dong well-spent.

The shot above was a 30 second exposure, taken at 6.30, about half an hour after sunset.

Many thanks to my student and new photography buddy Son for his local knowledge and his wheels.

Sugar and spice (potw #19)

Binh Tay market, Cholon, Saigon.

I’ve not taken many pictures lately – I’ve been lacking inspiration since coming back from my Mekong / Cambodia trip in January.  I felt like I was on a roll while I was away, but I seem to have hit a slump since getting back to Saigon.  Consequently, I’m a bit behind with my Pictures of the Week – this one’s from the week before last.