Without an H

Photography from south-east Asia by Jon Sanwell

Posts tagged ‘vietnam’

More from the Mekong

Water isn’t really my element – I can barely swim – but there’s no getting away from the stuff in the Mekong Delta.  I went on a few boat trips during my week there, but taking pictures from a moving boat isn’t easy, especially if you’re a big wuss who’s worried about falling in. The problem with water, a wise man once said, is that it’s wet and it moves around.

The area might be best known for its floating markets, but back on dry land there are plenty of street markets to visit.  Wandering around the market in Chau Doc early one morning, I thought to myself, “I could spend all day taking pictures here.”  So I did.

My trip coincided with the build-up to the Tet holiday (the Lunar new year, which is the most important holiday in the calendar for Vietnamese people).  With two weeks off work, I spent one week travelling through the delta, before taking a boat upriver from Chau Doc into Cambodia for another week.  Although I was out of Vietnam for the holiday itself, for weeks before the streets were full of symbols of Tet; red and gold decorations, yellow and orange flowers, and kumquat trees were everywhere.

When I first saw this picture, I thought that a pesky cyclist had ruined a good panning shot. When I saw it again on the big screen, I decided I quite liked it. I’ll just have to pretend that I had it all planned.

Rush hour in Chau Doc is a little quieter than what I’ve become used to in Saigon.

And to finish, a sunset.

(Coming soon: a post or two on Cambodia.)

Mekong Delta portraits

A week in the Mekong Delta in the build-up to the Tet holiday.  A week of friendly people, fresh seafood, very few cars, floating markets and flower-lined streets.  A week that wasn’t long enough.

Floating in the Mekong Delta (potw #14)

I’ve just come back from a two week Mekong trip – one week in the Mekong Delta in the south of Vietnam, and one in eastern Cambodia.  I have many pictures and memories to sort through, which I can’t quite begin to do yet, as I’m back in Saigon and my brain hurts.  So here’s just one to be going on with.

This picture was taken in the floating market in Phong Dien, near Can Tho, the main city of the Mekong Delta.

Parklife (POTW #13)

Exercising in the early morning sun.

This is one of a number of shots from a few recent early morning park visits.  I’ll be posting a longer series of shots soon.

In the meantime, I’m away for a couple of weeks over the Tet holiday, traveling through the Mekong Delta and into Cambodia.  I’m currently in Vinh Long.  I have my camera with me, of course, but not my laptop, so no more pictures of the week until I get back, when I hope I’ll have plenty of Mekong shots to share.

Chuc mung nam moi!

Dumb redheads (POTW #12)

I could post a whole series of shots of shop window dummies from Vietnam.  They’re always willing subjects for a portrait, though it’s hard to get a smile out of them.  Perhaps my Vietnamese isn’t good enough.  These two redheads were just standing around doing nothing outside their friend’s clothes shop in District 3 last weekend.

Life in the slow lane (POTW #11)

I spent a lot of the New Year weekend wandering around in District 3 in Saigon.  In between the busy main roads that stretch across the centre of the city, joining one district to another, there’s a network of increasingly narrow sidestreets, backstreets, alleys, lanes and… what’s narrower than a lane?  I promised myself I wasn’t going to use the word “labyrinth” in this post, but it’s a real labyrinth.  Houses and shops open directly onto the street, and food markets squeeze themselves into any available space.

Away from the chaotic main roads, people were busy with their shopping and cooking, but no one was rushing.  It was starting to get dark and I was thinking of going home when I took a right down this alley and saw the lady in brown leaning on her fence and chatting to her friends across the way (just out of shot).  Two curious boys stopped playing football for a moment to watch the tall, clumsy foreigner take pictures of their slightly bemused neighbour.

Saigon Street Portraits

I like taking people pictures more than any other kind of photography.  I’m always on the lookout for an interesting face or a striking attitude.  These pictures might not be street photography in the strictest sense, since I tend to ask permission before taking a shot, but they’re portraits of people I encountered on the street, so I’ll call them street portraits.  I try not to get too caught up with labels and genres.

To take people pictures that I’m happy with, I have to be in the right mood.  I try to establish some kind of connection with a person when I’m taking their picture, even if it’s just through nodding and smiling.  Sometimes, everything clicks, and I can’t wait to get home and look at the pictures on the laptop.  Sometimes, it just doesn’t happen, and I feel like throwing away my camera.  I generally find that the pictures I most enjoy taking are the ones that turn out the best.

These portraits were all taken in Saigon over the last couple of months.

This tailor was hard at work outside, near the bus station in Cholon.

This man runs a shoe shop in Cholon. I showed him his picture and he smiled a little sadly and said, “I’m very thin.” I couldn’t really argue with him.

With her broad smile and pleasant demeanour, she’s not a typical taxi driver.

These two lovebirds are music students, practising in the park after class.

Second Impressions of Saigon

I’ve been in Saigon for two months now, and it feels like time to take stock.  I was going to write about the differences between Saigon (as Ho Chi Minh City is still commonly called) and Hanoi, but it feels too early to do that just yet.  I need to feel more settled here before I can make a proper comparison.

I lived in Hanoi for two and a half years and felt very comfortable there, but I always thought that I took my best pictures when I left the city.  My favourite shots from that time were taken in Sapa, Bac Ha, Hoi An, Cambodia, even the outskirts of Hanoi, rather than the centre.  Perhaps there’s something about familiarity with a place which makes it harder for me to take good pictures there.

These pictures of Saigon were all taken in the last couple of months.  I can’t really call them first impressions, as I spent a fair amount of time here before coming here to live.  So these are second impressions – some of the scenes, people and details that have caught my eye.  How will my pictures of Saigon change as I become more familiar with the city?  Time will tell.