south east asia | Without an H

Hello sunshine

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After weeks of grey, drizzly weather, the sun has begun to force its way through the clouds above Hanoi this week. Not bright, blazing sunshine by any means, but a soft, hazy sunshine that’s perfect for street portraits.

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Bangkok leftovers

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A few more portrait and detail shots from my recent trip to Bangkok, pictures which didn’t really fit into either of my previous posts.

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Amulets R Us

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All about the red

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I spent a little time in Bangkok at the end of January and beginning of February, because of some not very interesting but still quite annoying problems with my Vietnamese visa. My visit coincided with the Lunar New Year, so I made a couple of visits to the area around Yaowarat Road, Bangkok’s Chinatown. The area was awash with red: kids’ pyjamas, lanterns, envelopes for ‘lucky money’ and, confusingly, anti-government protesters. While red has been adopted as the signature colour of the pro-government faction, the other side seemed to use the new year celebrations as an opportunity to reclaim the colour, temporarily abandoning their usual yellow shirts in favour of red.

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Winter

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Winter in Hanoi has been mild so far, though the pessimist in me is wary about what February and March have in store. Up until now, despite the cold of the early morning and night time, the days have been mostly bright and sunny. These pictures were taken last week, in a Hanoi neighbourhood not far from where I live.

I’ve been trying for something a bit different with my pictures since coming back from my Mekong trip, shooting only in black and white and only with a 35mm lens, and with minimal post-processing. I think this approach is quite well suited to Hanoi in the autumn and winter. But I’ve not been shooting as much as I would like. While I was travelling in the summer, I was very focused on photography, shooting nearly every day, and planning my time and my travels around my pictures. Now that I’m settled back in Hanoi, photography has taken a bit of a back seat again, something to be fitted in around my job and my everyday life. This isn’t altogether a bad thing. I’m very happy to be living in Hanoi again, and am (mostly) enjoying teaching again, but I hope to be shooting and posting more often over the coming months.

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Lucky numbers and other pictures

A few more from the streets of Hanoi.

Pyjama man and other pictures

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Autumn in Hanoi, 2013

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