Without an H

Photography from south-east Asia by Jon Sanwell

Old favourites

I’ve just updated the homepage of this site, so that it now only shows pictures taken since I came back to south-east Asia, and started this blog, in October last year.

This post features the pictures that have been bumped off the homepage. I’m posting them here because I didn’t want them to disappear from the site altogether.  They were all taken in Vietnam and Cambodia during 2010.

Old fellas
(Hanoi, January 2010; Hanoi, January 2010; Phnom Penh, February 2010)

KH CAT B TONG
These stencils, advertising the services of local handymen / labourers, can be seen on walls all over Hanoi and Saigon.
(Saigon, February 2010)

Long Bien fisherman
Grey April days in Hanoi are perfect for black and white photography.
(Long Bien bridge, Hanoi, April 2010)

 Long Bien kids
(Long Bien bridge, Hanoi, April 2010)

Looking askance

Something about this shot of Flower Hmong women reminds me of an early 80s Abba video.
(Bac Ha, July 2010)

Women in red
The middle shot here is one of my favourites.
(Ta Van; Bac Ha; Ta Van, all July 2010)

Blue lady
(Sapa, July 2010)

Hmong market trader
(Sapa, July 2010)

(Le Mat, Hanoi, August 2010)

Hoi An boatman
It’s all about the blue.
(Hoi An, September 2010)

Hoi An farmer
(Hoi An, September 2010)

He loves Hanoi
Taken during the celebrations for Hanoi’s 1000 year anniversary.
(Hanoi, October 2010)

 (Hanoi, October 2010)

Young fisherman
(Kampot, December 2010)

Phnom Penh ferry ride
(Phnom Penh, December 2010)

Three monks
(Phnom Penh, December 2010; Lolei, Angkor, February 2010; Kampot, December 2010)

Orange
(Phnom Penh, December 2010)

Wat Langka monks
(Phnom Penh, December 2010)

Blue (potw #26)

Sometimes, I go for a walk with my camera and nothing happens. Nothing inspires me, I’m not in the right mood, the light’s not right, it’s too hot, it’s too dark, I need a pee, it’s too bright, I’m hungry, I’ve got the wrong lens, I’m tired, the stars aren’t aligned, etc, and so on.

Other times, I stumble upon a great shot just round the corner from my flat. I walk past these blue shutters with their blue writing all the time, but on Saturday afternoon, there they were again, behind a nice man in a blue shirt who was happy to have his picture taken. It’s this sort of thing that restores my faith in photography, and in the universe in general.

Mirror Man and other pictures

I was in Hanoi the weekend before last for a friend’s wedding.  It was a busy few days, but I found time on Sunday morning to take a slow walk down Hang Thiec, the street in the Old Quarter where household goods of tin and glass are made and sold.  The resulting clanging, crashing and buzzing noises weren’t great for my post-wedding hangover, but the hazy sunshine provided great light for people pictures.

Cafe culture is alive and well in Hanoi.  I like to think of these three gentlemen as earnest cafe philosophers, but they were probably talking about women and football.

My last visit north was in March, at the tail end of winter. It was cloudy and grey, both chilly and humid in a uniquely Hanoian way. A couple of months later, temperatures have reached the mid to high thirties, and jeans and scarves have been replaced by shorts and sandals. As a resident of Saigon, these seasonal changes are a welcome reminder of the passing of time, which seems to stand still in the south.  Changes in the weather are less pronounced here. It’s dry or it’s wet, it’s hot or it’s outrageously hot. I suppose I was thinking a lot about the passing of time, as I spent much of the weekend in Hanoi catching up with old friends, idling the hours away in some of my favourite places.  I lived in Hanoi for two and a half years, and for me, there’s something special about the place that’s hard to put into words.  Although I’ve lived in Saigon for seven months now, Hanoi still feels more like home to me.  Not to say that it’s an idyllic place – it’s noisy, dirty, sometimes infuriating – but it has a charm and character that Saigon lacks.  This is partly nostalgia on my part, of course.  My life was different in Hanoi, and I miss that time and those people as much as the place itself.  But something tells me that I’ll be back, and for more than just a weekend.

The Red and the Black (potw #25)

I’ve rather pretentiously named this post after a nineteenth century French novel, which I haven’t read.  But I like the red and the black of her shirt, and the way it almost matches the background, so ‘the Red and the Black’ it is.  She runs a food stall on the edge of Hanoi’s old quarter.

I was up in Hanoi for a quick visit last weekend, jetsetter that I am, and will be posting a few more pictures soon.

May days in Hue

A week in Hue (“hway?”) at the beginning of May provided a welcome change of pace from life in Saigon, even if there was no escape from the heat, which is pretty brutal in south and central Vietnam at this time of the year. Hue is a river city, known for its crumbling tombs and mausoleums and its distinctive cuisine. Historically, it was the ancient capital of the country and, more recently, the scene of some of the bloodiest episodes of the war. Although its past is fascinating, I was more interested in seeing the everyday life of the city now, its streets, markets, canals and people.

Hue details

I spent a lot of my time in Hue looking for patterns, details, textures and colours. I’ve put all these pictures together here because I wanted to do something a little different to my usual portrait dominated posts (though there will be some more Hue portraits coming soon).

It’s about time (potw #24)

It’s been a while since I posted a picture of the week; I simply haven’t been taking many photographs lately. I haven’t been doing much of anything at all, to be honest. But I’ve just come back from a week in Hue, in central Vietnam, where I managed to get up off my arse and take some pictures. This shot was taken in Dong Ba market. More Hue pictures coming soon.

Mekong Delta portraits II

A sequel is usually a sign of someone running out of ideas, and this post, I’m afraid, is no exception.  In the absence of anything new to post from the last few weeks, I’ve plundered my archive for some more pictures from my Mekong trip in January this year, to create a follow up to my original Mekong Delta portraits post.  I like all these pictures – I wouldn’t be posting them otherwise – but I wish that I had something new to share.  I’m spending next week in Hue, and I’m hoping that a change of scene will provide some inspiration.  We’ll see.  In the meantime, please forgive the navel-gazing and enjoy the pictures.

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.