Without an H

Photography from south-east Asia by Jon Sanwell

Posts tagged ‘street’

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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Streets of Chau Doc (part 3)

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My five day stay in Chau Doc in early August was one of the most rewarding periods I’ve had with my camera – everywhere I looked there seemed to be a picture waiting to be taken.  Everything seemed so easy – the weather was perfect, the people were friendly and my mood was good.  Looking back, I wonder why I didn’t stay there longer.

This is my final set of pictures from my summer Mekong trip: three and a half months of travelling from Yunnan province in China, through Laos, a tiny bit of Thailand, and eastern Cambodia, and then into the Mekong delta in Vietnam.  I came back from the trip with some great memories, ruined sandals, the nearest thing I’ll ever get to a tan, and – I think – some of the best pictures I’ve taken.  Just as I enjoyed the journey, which came to an end at the beginning of September, I’ve also enjoyed the process of going back through my photo catalog over the last few weeks and posting the pictures that didn’t make it onto the blog while I was travelling.  At the same time, I’m glad that process is now finished, so that I can give more time and energy to taking pictures in Hanoi, where I’m living now.  So this post is my way of drawing a line under the Mekong trip – for now at least – and moving on.

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Behind the scenes at the market

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I’ve written before that it sometimes seems as if the women in Vietnam do all the hard work while the men just laze about.  Like most sweeping generalisations, it’s not entirely true – but there is some truth in it, as I think the picture above illustrates.

These pictures were taken in the Mekong delta town of Vinh Long, mostly in a narrow alleyway in between the market and the river where goods – mostly rice – are traded wholesale.

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BFFs

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Public displays of affection between men and women are quite rare among Vietnamese people – in daylight at least – but it’s not unusual to see friends of the same sex, men or women, holding hands or being otherwise touchy-feely. I’m not sure if these two were laughing at me, at each other, or at something else entirely.

(Taken last month in Vinh Long, in the Mekong delta)

(Intermission: Back to Hanoi)

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Regular readers will know that I’ve spent the last three and a half months or so following the Mekong river from Yunnan province in China, through Laos and Cambodia, and into the Mekong delta in the south of Vietnam. That trip has now come to an end, and it’s time for me to get back to real life, and the business of finding a job and somewhere to live. And that’s where a big change comes in: having lived in Saigon since the end of 2011, I’m moving back to Hanoi. Hanoi is where I lived for more than two years when I first came to Vietnam, and it’s the place in the country where I feel most at home. People in the south tend to look at me like I’m crazy when I say I prefer life in the north, and it’s not really something I can explain logically; all I can say is that it’s a move that feels right for me.

The pictures above were taken during a quick visit to Hanoi back in April. I might not be posting any new pictures for a while, but there are still more to come from the Mekong trip. I’ll still be taking pictures in Hanoi, but I want to build up a bit of a collection, and get the rest of the Mekong pictures out of my system, before sharing anything new.