details | Without an H

Posts tagged ‘details’

Red River brick factories (III)

161120-293-edited-2

These crumbling, dusty, ramshackle brick factories just outside Hanoi were one of my favourite photography destinations last year. As well as the striking colours and patterns, I hope that these pictures convey something of the resilience of the factory workers, and the fine balance between disorder and routine. I keep meaning to go back and shoot some more there. In the absence of new new pictures, here are some new old pictures from last autumn, which I had intended to post these a couple of months ago, only for them to slip through the net somehow.

161021-133-edited

161021-157-edited

161021-218-edited

161120-430-edited

161021-179-edited

161021-311-edited

161105-577-edited

161105-170-edited

161105-201-edited

161105-368-edited

161105-304-edited

161105-464-edited

161105-505-edited

161105-526-edited

161105-115-edited

161021-336-edited

161120-270-edited

161105-725-edited

161105-006-edited

Bangkok miscellany

170201-057-edited-2

A collection of portraits, street scenes and details from my visit to Bangkok at the start of the year.

170126-002-edited

170126-031-edited

Lunar new year decorations

bangkok-details-2

Wat Arun, my favourite temple in Bangkok

170201-253-edited

Beware of falling elephants

170201-048-edited

Chinatown

170201-285-edited

170201-277-edited

bangkok-details

170202-032-edited

Thailand is in a one year period of mourning for King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died last year

Metal and charms in Bangkok

170201-092-edited

Back in January of this year, I spent a few days in Bangkok. It was the Tet holiday, or lunar new year, here in Vietnam, which is always a good time to leave Hanoi in search of warmer weather. In Bangkok, I met up with my dad, who was visiting from the UK for a few days, having just been on holiday in Myanmar. We spent an agreeable few days being tourists, visiting the obligatory temples and treating ourselves to Thai cuisine. After Dad went back home, I had a few more days to wander around by myself.

One of my favourite parts of Bangkok is its Chinatown, the network of streets around Thanon Yaowaraat, where these pictures were taken. At the south-east end of Thanon Yaowarat, near Wat Traimit, there are a few streets of hardware stores, selling metal pipes, rods, tubes, girders and sprockets (probably). I always enjoy taking pictures in streets like this; I like the patterns. Not far away, there’s a streetside amulet market, where you can buy lucky charms and talismans. I think that these traders have been relocated from their old market near the Grand Palace.

bangkok-metal

170201-136-edited

170201-132-edited

170201-143-edited

170201-123-edited

170201-180-edited

170201-206-edited

amulet-market-portraits

170201-200-edited

170201-217-edited

170201-226-edited

New photobook: Hanoi (Portraits of the City)

front-cover

It’s the Christmas gift no-one’s been waiting for. I’ve self-published my new photobook, Hanoi (Portraits of the City). It’s available as a print book or e-book through blurb.co.uk.

blog-collage

A neighbourhood that straddles the railway tracks; a market that offers everything under the sky; intimate portraits of the men and women of the city; the details, textures and patterns that get lost in the background; and fragments of the everyday life seen in the streets, alleys, cafes and lakes of Hanoi.

This 150 page photobook, compiled over two years, is a personal journey through the city I’ve come to call home.

Click here for more details or on the link below for a preview.

Supply and demand

161008-151-edited

You’re never far from a street market in Hanoi. They’re a gift for the wandering photographer. These pictures were all taken last month in the area around Van Mieu and the rail station.

161016-072-edited-2

161016-127-edited

161008-221-edited

161016-112-edited-2

161016-047-edited

161016-059-edited

161016-061-edited

161016-109-edited

161008-315-edited

161008-301-edited

**********

You are cordially invited to join me on Instagram.

**********

Cuts

161008-285-edited

From the street markets of Hanoi, with apologies to the squeamish.

161008-241-edited

161016-079-edited-2

**********

You are cordially invited to join me on Instagram.

**********

Construction (and other pictures)

161009-114-edited

It often seems like Hanoi is in the midst of an endless cycle of knocking itself down and building itself up again. On almost every street, there’s construction or demolition work going on. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. When I first came to Vietnam, I was surprised to see so many women working on construction sites, but now, like so much else, it’s just normal. I need to remind myself sometimes that even if an image is familiar (to me), it can still be worth photographing.

These pictures – which mostly have nothing to do with construction at all – were all taken in the streets around Van Mieu, the area best known for the Temple of Literature, this month.

161008-250-edited

161009-010-edited

161009-100-edited

161009-142-edited

161009-096-edited

161009-144-edited

161009-164-edited

161016-003-edited-2

161009-212-edited

161016-082-edited

161009-228-edited

161016-074-edited

October in April

151022-185-edited

This is a slightly disjointed collection of pictures taken in various locations around Hanoi back in October last year.

151022-257-edited

151022-216-edited

yellow-details

151019-013-edited

151019-040-edited

151019-008-edited

151019-085-edited

151019-160-edited

151019-170-edited

151019-181-edited

151021-023-edited

151021-039-edited

151022-002-edited

151022-020-edited

151022-036-edited

Election fever

151028-009-edited

My autumn trip to Myanmar coincided with the country’s general election, which resulted in Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy entering parliament with a majority for the first time, following decades of military rule. Everyone I spoke to about the election seemed to be cautiously optimistic – hopeful that the election would lead to real change, but wary about the ruling party’s willingness to make way. Aung San Suu Kyi herself appeared to be a genuinely unifying presence, calm, intelligent and dignified (a kind of anti-Trump), her image on posters, billboards and front pages throughout the country.

This collection of pictures is by no means a comprehensive account of the events of last November, just a few election-themed images that caught my eye.

151028-014-edited

151028-037-edited-2

151113-053-edited

151028-138-edited

151026-142-edited

151108-001-edited

Streets of Yangon IV

151027-298-edited

Right now, if I could choose one city in the world to wander around in with a camera, it would be Yangon. My visit in November last year was my second time in the city, so it was familiar enough for me to feel comfortable and orientated, but not so familiar that I felt like I’d seen it all before. I spent a lot of time just zigzagging my way through the tightly-packed grid of streets in downtown Yangon, no particular destination in mind, just looking for a character, a scene or a detail to photograph.

151027-151-edited-2