Vietnam: Photo Expedition & Workshop

I am pleased to announce the Vietnam: North Of The 16th Parallel Photo Expedition/Workshop™ during which we are planning to explore the street life of bustling Ha Noi, the colorful villages and ethnic minority tribes around Sapa and the Sunday market of Bac Ha, the daily life in the ancient port city of Hoi An, the beauty of the Forbidden City in Hue and the fishing village of Lang Co, as well as spending a night on Halong Bay.

All the details, including a link to register interest in joining, for this exciting photographic expedition and workshop are on this website.

I will be assisted on this photo expedition by Maika Elan, a talented Vietnamese photographer and photojournalist.

I normally don't feature details of my photo expeditions on this blog until they are fully subscribed, but as I am flying to India today and returning home at the end of March, I thought it would be more practical to put it out there now.

I've already received a number of outright registrations and indications of interest, as a result of my newsletter.

Richard Van Lê: Cao Dai

I've recently found this updated short movie on Cao Dai by Richard Van Lê, which fits my current mindset, as I am thinking of a photo expedition-workshop to Vietnam in the near future.

Cao Dai (Cao Đài) is a syncretistic, monotheistic religion, officially established in the city of Tay Ninh, in southern Vietnam, in 1926. Its first disciples claimed to have received direct communications from God, who gave them explicit instructions for establishing a new religion. It's a blend of elements from Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, and Animism.

Its saints' list is rather an eclectic one; with Buddha, Confucius, Victor Hugo, Joan of Arc, William Shakespeare, Victor Hugo, Louis Pasteur, and Jesus.

More background on Cao Dai can be found here.

Richard Van Lêis a New York City-based photographer, filmmaker, and multimedia designer. He is the founder of 138 Media LLC.

Mark Carey: Viet Nam In Black & White

Photo © Mark Carey-All Rights Reserved

"My photographic heart lies in documentary, showing things as they really are, not as someone has contrived them to be..."

Here's a photographer who shares my own photographic credo. 

Mark Carey is a London-based documentary photographer, and who tells us he never had an interest in photographing posed or set-up shots, whether for his wedding photography or during his travels. I suggest you view his wedding portfolio, and see this documentary/photojournalism style applied to the weddings he covered.

His travel portfolio consists of three main galleries; Rajasthan, Varanasi and Viet Nam, which I think has extremely well composed black & white (one or two are in color) street photographs. I don't know if Mark shoots from the hip, but the subjects in many of the photographs appear to be oblivious of his presence....street photography at its best.

It's been too long since my last visit to Viet Nam, and I am starting to lay out plans for a photo expedition/workshop at some point to take place in this wonderful country.

A highly recommended viewing stop for all those interested in Viet Nam and solid street photography! Great travel photography does not need to be in color!

Paolo Patrizi: Ha Noi

Photo © Paolo Patrizi-All Rights Reserved

"a relic of the many lives of a magical city, steeped in beauty and seductive charm."

And that's part of Paolo Patrizi's statement opening his gallery of Ha Noi which is a mix of very attractive street and documentary photography. From the Ha Noi gallery, I especially liked the photograph above...the colors, and the blur of the nón lá hat; this can be nowhere else but Viet Nam.

I met Paolo Patrizi briefly at the Delhi Photo Festival, and subsequently in November during the Angkor Photo Festival in Siem Reap. He's a documentary photographer, currently living in Japan. He started his career in London working as an assistant to other photographers, and having done freelance assignments for British magazines and design groups, he started to develop individual projects of his own.

Paolo's work is featured in leading publications and is exhibited internationally. His photos have won several awards with the Association of Photographers of London, The John Kobal Portrait Award, The Lens Culture International Exposure Awards, The World Press Photo, The Sony World Photography Awards, The Anthropographia Award for Human Rights, The Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize. His photographs are part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. His work appeared in the Observer Magazine, Stern, Panorama, Corriere della Sera, GQ, Courrier Japon, Geo, XL Semanal, Przekroj, K-magazine, Handelsblatt, European Photography, Kaze no Tabibito, Vanity Fair, Sunday Times Magazine.

Francisco de Souza: Travel Photography

Photo © Francisco de Souza-All Rights Reserved

The website of Francisco de Souza is populated with galleries of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam...large images which grab viewers the way images should. None of this silly small photographs to "protect my work" from Francisco. He wants to show his images, and he does.

His biography tells us he was born and raised in Zimbabwe, where he started to photograph his Shona tribal neighbours since he was eleven. Subsequently displaced from his Zimbabwean home, he travelled to many developing countries in Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, and South East Asia. It is there he started to actively work with and support Non Government Organisations in Indonesia, India and Zimbabwe.

Francisco's work has been shortlisted in the Digital Photographer of the Year competition in 2009, and he received a Diploma in Photography from The Photography Institute of New Zealand in 2010.

In his India gallery, Francisco features an elderly woman in a red sari, possibly a Gujarati or Rajasthani tribal judging from her tattoos, being helped unto the back of a truck...a perfect capture in time and motion.

Aaron Joel Santos: Ha Giang (Vietnam)

Photo © Aaron Joel Santos-All Rights Reserved

Aaron Joel Santos is a freelance travel and documentary photographer based in Hanoi, Vietnam. He is represented by Wonderful Machine in the United States and by Invision Images in Europe and Japan. His clients include The Wall Street Journal, Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, The Daily Telegraph and The Boston Globe. He is available for assignments across Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

Most of Aaron's galleries are of projects in South East Asia, and include documentary travel, as well as commercial work such as photographs of hotels and resorts. I particularly liked his Ha Giang black & white gallery. Ha Giang is a province is in the northernmost part of the country, and it shares a long border with China's Yunnan province. It has many cultural festivals due to the presence of more than 20 ethnic minority groups.

Aaron also uses PhotoShelter to host his image archives, and you can see his collection of images of Laos, from the World Heritage town of Luang Prabang to the waters of Vang Vien and the capital of Vientiane.

Paul Levrier: Mekong Delta

Photo © Paul Levrier-All Rights Reserved

I've posted the work of Paul Levrier before on The Travel Photographer's blog, but he just alerted me that his website Visions of Indochina had been updated, and now included large sized images...and he was right. His portfolio is certainly large sized, making it easier and more enjoyable to appreciate.

Having said that, I especially liked his must-see new section On Assignments which features his work from Can Tho, the largest town in Vietnam's Delta, where his intent was to record life on the Mekong river and its famed floating markets. He used a wide angle on a number of his shots, and with the extra large size he chose for his images, they appear almost life-like.

Reading Paul's notes on his accompanying blog, he tells us that while tourists usually visit the Cai Rang market, the largest on the Mekong, he headed instead to Nga Bay, but found that the local authorities had closed and pushed the vendors further up river to a rural location called Cho Noi...which was difficult to get to, and was consequently free of foreign sightseers.

I traveled to Can Tho in 2003 (eons ago, it now seems) photographing for a NGO, and unfortunately had no time to photograph the floating markets. After seeing Paul's images, this is high on my to-do list.

Al Jazeera: Vietnam

Photo © Nicole Precel_Courtesy Al Jazeera

If you think Al Jazeera is only an excellent source of international news, and the Arab satellite television channel that left all our cable networks in the dust during the momentous events in the Middle East, you'd be wrong because it also features photography essays such as the one by Nicole Percel's Vietnam: Between Tradition & Modernity.

In February 2011; Nicole Precel and Nick Ahlmark were in Chi Ca Commune, a cluster of villages in Xin Man district, part of Ha Giang province in northern Vietnam, the poorest province in the country, to make a movie for the final episode of Al Jazeera's Birthrights, a series examining maternal health around the world.

Al Jazeera also features social documentary work such as the accompanying video The Mountain Midwives of Vietnam.

Random Photo: Mekong Delta

Those who only give the Mekong Delta a $10 or $15 from Saigon only get a brief look at Ben Tre, which is nice enough but stuffed with visitors (though this shot is from that area). Lost over the past decade is how much easier it's become to visit the delta on your own -- using buses, hiring moto-taxis to go over ferries and roads not on maps. In some cases, as the one above, I had a boat and a driver to myself -- and saw about five tourists in a full week.

Thomas Jeppesen: Vietnam

Thomas Jeppesen is originally from Denmark, and currently working in Vietnam as the director of an advertising agency in its capital, Hanoi. This gives him ample opportunity to photograph its streets and its vicinity.

He bought his first DSLR a couple of years ago, and developed the photography bug. He enjoys the post-processing phase of digital photography, and this shows in his gallery of Vietnamese portraits, which are mostly in black & white. Some would say they're somewhat overly contrasty, but that's a look that many B&W photographers seek.

Thomas also has a set of galleries of Hanoi street scenes and Vietnamese fashion models.

Spring-Break Inspiration

Here's my Guideposts interview about some inspiring destination ideas for spring break: Mexico, Kansas, using local sports as vehicle to meet locals, and helping communities recovering from natural disasters.

Top Tips For Exploring Vietnam

Once again with Sachin this time for some travel tips related with Vietnam. I totally agree with you on the tip about the food, the "tourist version" of the countries food is in fact a common situation to many, many tourism places...

For many people, the word Vietnam immediately conjures images of war, and it is true that the conflict, which took place as recently as the 1970s, still has a powerful influence over the land and its people. But there is much more to Vietnam than that. A plane ticket, a visa, a little cash and some cheap travel insurance are all you really need to explore Vietnam, but we've put together a few tips that will help you get the most from your adventure in this beautiful land.

Avoid 'foreigner food'

Many tourists visit Vietnam with (rightly) high expectations of the local cuisine, but some, sadly, come back disappointed. The problem is not with Vietnamese cuisine, but with the fact that that haven't really experienced it. In tourist areas many of the restaurants alter their menus to cater for what they think that tourists want. This often means watered down versions of Vietnamese food or generic 'Asian' dishes. Make the effort to seek out restaurants that cater primarily to locals, however, and you will find the real Vietnamese cuisine every bit as enchanting as you had hoped.

People watch

There are many great sights and attractions in Vietnam, but little that is as rewarding as simply watching the world go by. Find yourself a pavement bar or café, preferably at a busy road junction, and settle down with an ice-cold beer on one of the ubiquitous tiny plastic chairs. 'People watching' is fascinating at any time, but more so in a culture that is different from your own. As well as getting an insight into some of the similarities and differences between your own life and that of the Vietnamese people, you will see some remarkable sights. Was that really a live pig on the back of that motorbike? And did you really see an entire family of five people on that one?

Be inquisitive but respectful

The Vietnam War is fundamental to the country's tourism, and it is alright to be curious about it, but this bloody part of history is still painfully recent so it is important to be respectful. Many people are keen to talk about their experiences and you should take every opportunity available to learn from people who experienced this important part of global history first hand. But let them raise the subject and only then encourage them to talk. Don't put them on the spot with too many direct questions.

Get off the beaten track

It might sound like little more than a cliché, but in Vietnam getting off the beaten track really makes a difference. Tourism is very well catered for in Vietnam as long as you follow certain pre-ordained routes. There is nothing wrong with that -- it means that it is easy to travel cheaply, efficiently and safely -- but it can leave the impression that you are only seeing part of the story. One way of breaking free from these constraints is to hire a private motorcycle guide to show you the country away from the usual tourist trails. Of course you need to be mindful of any increased risks as soon as you head off the beaten track so make sure you have suitable travel insurance.

Raphael Nguyen: Vietnam

Photo © Raphael Nguyen-All Rights Reserved

Photo © Raphael Nguyen-All Rights Reserved

Raphael Nguyen is a French-Vietnamese photographer, who moved to Vietnam in 1999. He lived Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and finally in Hoi An in the very center of the country. He travels within the country, uses either film or digital cameras; Nikon FM2, Nikon F3 and Nikon D70, Canon EOS 5 D and Canon EOS 5 D Mark II.

I was drawn to his gallery of Daily Life in Vietnam with over 100 intensely saturated color photographs of various areas of Vietnam. These range from simple portraits, lifestyle shots, culinary images, environmental portraits etc. The ones I liked most and feature here are of Hoi An, and these two underscore Raphael's photographic style...which gives his images an overly golden saturated look.

Hoi An's old town was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO as a well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port of the 15th to 19th centuries, with a unique building with local and foreign influences. I was in Hoi An for a couple of days while photographing for a NGO in 2003, and had little time to photograph for myself. I sense it's time to return and redress this shortcoming.

Paul Levrier: Visions of Indochina

Photo © Paul Levrier -All Rights Reserved

 Paul Levrier is in a good position to photograph all over South East Asia and in particular in Indochina. He's the managing director of a travel company specializing in Vietnam (where he's been based for the past 14 years) and Cambodia.

He's also the founder of Visions of Indochina which is a digital image bank/library. Whilst one needs to register to gain full access to the library, there's enough there to satisfy all Vietnamophiles (is that the right term?) with lovely images of its various festivals, as well as a section for multimedia.

Since the site is principally an image bank, its navigation seems a little quirky but you'll get the hang of it and you'll find lovely photographs of Vietnam, as well as Laos and Cambodia.

Nguyen Thanh Hai: Hanoi

Photo © Nguyen Thanh Hai -All Rights Reserved
Nguyen Thanh Hai is known as Maika Elan, and is a young Vietnamese freelance photographer based in Hanoi whose work is just delightful.

Maika was a selected participant in the Creative Economies workshop at the Asia Europe Forum for Young Photographers in Malaysia, and at the 2010 photojournalism workshop with the Indochina Media Memorial Foundation (IMMF), where she received awards for the best photo essay and best single photograph.

I was initially drawn to her gallery of classical drama, and then to her photographs of Inside Hanoi...which I strongly encourage you to peruse. Maika's sense of color and compositional skills will impress you. I also urge you to visit her Lomography section, which she lets her color affinity loose.

In my view, Maika has an extremely bright future in photography.

Julie Aucoin: Redux

Photo © Julie Aucoin -All Rights Reserved
I've already mentioned Julie Aucoin on this blog, but I've thought of re-posting her recent work which includes a number of South East Asian countries to include Vietnam, and this image of a Bac Ha woman.

Julie who's based in Nevada, describes herself as a passionate photographer, an adventurous traveler and experienced stage manager. She's one of those photographers who, as a child, perused the pages of the National Geographic magazine and this implanted peripatetic seeds in her.

The earlier post on Julie is here.

Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon Landmarks, Vietnam

Today off we go to the far east! More precisely to Vietnam's Capital, the beautiful Ho Chi Minh. I must leave here a big thanks to Jane from Coach Jane Lee - I'm almost on the other side of the world so who knows when I'll be able to go there - But I loved the tour :) Thanks again and words to you Jane!

Ho Chi Minh City (Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh) formerly known as Saigon is Vietnam’s largest city. Everywhere you looked, one sees the modern skyline alongside the colonial buildings, traditional temples and pagodas. Notice the French influence with all the structural architectural design of the buildings as well as with the cuisine. It’s a thriving city with all the hustle and bustle.

The Vietnamese use motorbike, motor scooters, and bicycles as a means of transportation and crossing the street was quite an experience itself. There are crossing guards dressed in green uniforms with white gloves that will assist you with crossing the street. Bottom-line just walk slow so the bikes and motorcycles see you and they will either go around you or in front of you.

Amazing walking down the streets in District 1, there are tons of shops and people outside peddling their wares. From tangerines, lychees to tee shirts; people with flyers on street corners trying to sell manicures and pedicures. Who could ask for anything more? It’s a shopper’s paradise.

Above, and not to be missed, the Reunification Palace. Formerly known as the Independence Palace - this 1960’s style palace was stormed by tanks on April 30, 1975 - “The Fall of Saigon”. Bellow and also a must see, the Post Office, a three story building that is French architecturally designed. Right across is the Saigon-Norte Dame Basilica.

To end, a list of the top 10 things you to do while visiting Ho Chi Minh City include:

• Enjoy a cup of Vietnamese Coffee


• Try the Vietnamese cuisine and Taste a Bowl of Pho- It’s a soup with rice - Can be ordered with Beef (Pho Bo) or Chicken (Pho Ga)


• Tailor made shirts and suits


• Shopping for Vietnamese Silk


• Shop for Lacquer ware


• Visit the market


• Visit the night market opens 5PM


• Take a scenic cruise along the Saigon River


• See the Water Puppet Show


• Day trip to the Mekong Delta- Life on the river

One final thanks to Jane for this Vietnam's insights and beautiful pictures and I'm guessing that I'll try to convince you to write another one :)

Aaron Joel Santos: Vietnam

Photo © Aaron Joel Santos -All Rights Reserved
Aaron Joel Santos is a freelance editorial, travel and documentary photographer based in Hanoi, Vietnam. His photographs have been published in a number of international magazines, as well as galleries in the United States, Vietnam and Malaysia. He was an attendee in the 2009 Eddie Adams Workshop.

via The Click.

2010 Predictions

Everyone loves a list of what will happen in the world of travel, fashion, food, sports, news. And I fell for the temptation too, by producing my 2010 list for Lonely Planet.

Of all the claims, I am most certain that Hanoi will win for the best birthday of the year in 2010. The Vietnamese capital has been planning celebrations for years -- and it's a big one, 1000.

My perfect day in Hanoi, if I only had one and wanted a taste of attractions, is something like this:

Wake early, like 4.45am – and walk around Hoan Kiem Lake when locals do their Jazzercise routines. After breakfast, cab to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum when it opens to take a quick (bizarre) look at Vietnam’s goateed hero, then get back to the center to walk around the Old Quarter. Time it for a good lunch – pho is super at Pho Gia Tuyen (49 Bat Dan St) – and then cab to see the infamous 'Hanoi Hilton' as John McCain's one-time home -- the Hoa Lo Prison -- is known.

Before dinner, I’d have a ten-cent beer or two, and people-watch, at the fascinating 'bia hoi corner' (at Ta Hien & Luong Ngoc Quyen Sts in the Old Quarter) then taxi to the artsy, shoes-off Chim Sao (65 Ngo Hue St) for dinner, and return for a last walk around Hoan Kiem Lake after dark.

Top 3 Travel Hugs

Thursday is for Huggers

Do we hug more when we travel? I mean, hug people you've known for 10 minutes and will never see again? I've had some memorable ones -- by teachers on train platforms, grandparents on Polish balconies, drunk telephone line workers near a crocodile-filled pond in the Yucatan. But I've narrowed it down to my most memorable trio:


IN A VIETNAM CAVE
When I first went to Vietnam in the mid '90s there was still real concern how locals would treat Americans. Sometimes things feel different on the road, like this full-on hug from a former North Vietnam captain in an empty cave in Cat Ba a couple years ago. Maybe he liked my zip-off-pants/shorts.

BY JFK (AIRPORT)
I always talk with taxi drivers, particularly on the road, because there's always stories to hear, and there's time to kill anyway. Recently my first THREE taxi drivers in Las Vegas were all women. All seemed from the same worn-out-from-Midwest club, and indeed they hailed from Ohio, Illinois and upstate New York (kinda Midwest). But the best experience was the Nigerian-American man, a very large one, who responded to my $15 tip one time with a lasting bear hug at the JFK curb.

--> New travel rule? Taxi drivers and their passengers should hug more often, particularly in New York.

IN A TINY TURKISH BAR
I've only been to Istanbul once, but the 'time spent: likely hug' ratio was stunning. At least for me. The biggest and most bruising hug came from a large bearded guy at a bar in an alley off Istiklal Caddesi. From the get-go, he sort of adopted me as his new buddy, splitting time with his laughing girlfriend and embracing me ways that I still don't comprehend. My friends thought it was hilarious. The free beer was a nice touch though.