Without an H

Photography from south-east Asia by Jon Sanwell

Posts tagged ‘hanoi’

Spice up your life

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For the last couple of weeks – and my last couple of blog posts – I’ve been concentrating on shooting details, photographing the colours, textures and patterns that have caught my eye around the city. As well as looking for different subject matter, I’ve also been wandering in areas that I haven’t been to much lately, and using a lens, my 50mm, that I haven’t used for ages. It’s good sometimes to make yourself shoot in a different way, to break out of your usual habits. Having said that, I still couldn’t resist making a few portraits, which is what this post is all about. The last picture in this set is, I suppose, a portrait, but one that I probably wouldn’t have taken if I hadn’t been thinking about details.

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A birdcage, a kettle and some other things

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You know that you’ve been living in Hanoi for a long time when you don’t notice that there’s a severed pig’s head in a bowl of water by your feet. Wherever you live, it’s easy to take the details for granted, which is partly why I set myself the task this week of photographing some of the colours, shapes, patterns and objects I see all the time in Hanoi. I didn’t get a picture of the pig’s head – it was moving too fast – but the city had plenty of other things to offer.

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Every day is market day

150621-242-editedThese pictures were all taken about a month ago, on one of those days when everything just worked and pictures seemed to flow into my camera of their own accord. I love it when that happens, and I wish there was a switch I could click to make it happen at my command.

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Hanoi skyline

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No-one’s saying that Hanoi has one of the great skylines of the world. Hong Kong and New York have nothing to fear. But I do like this night-time view over West Lake, especially with a cold beer (just out of shot).