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.

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.

Jean Claude Louis: Asia Polaroids

Jean Claude Louis was born in France, and moved to Southern California in 1990. He's a physician and scientist, and had a life-long career in biomedical research. He now is pursuing his passions: travel and photography.

I've featured Jean-Claude Louis' work through the many photographic contests he won in 2007 and 2008. He participated and won (in specific categories) awards in National Geographic International competition, the Travel Photographer of the Year competition (two categories), and the B&W Magazine Portfolio Competition.

He returns to TTP with his Polaroid images of Asia...countries such as Myanmar, India, Viet Nam and China.

In Jean Claude's own words:In the Shadow of Time "is homage to the natural environment of these places and the people who live in it. The physical beauty and harmony of the places is accentuated by my use of the unique texture and light rendition of Polaroid Time Zero film to create a timeless, painterly effect."

I think Jean Claude succeeded in his quest...the images are ethereal. I chose the above image of a fisherman at dawn on Li River, China, because of its beautiful colors.

Peter Steinhauer: Viet Nam

Photo © Peter Steinhauer -All Rights Reserved
Currently based in Hong Kong, Peter Steinhauer is a fine art, editorial and advertising photographer living and working in Asia since 1993, and has exhibited his work in numerous galleries and museums internationally. He published two books on Viet Nam, and in 2007 PDN awarded his second book "Enduring Spirit of Viet Nam" Best Photography Book of The Year.

Peter's clients for his commercial work are Travel & Leisure, Prestige, Frank Muller, Dior, Chaumet, Periplus Books, Sofitel, Melia and Marriott.

There are beautiful galleries on Peter's website, whether categorized as fine art or Viet Nam. I chose his Ethnic Minorities of Viet Nam to showcase here on TTP.

(via Exposure Compensation blog)

And my thanks to Penelope Gan for reminding me that July has 31 days not 30 days.

Jeffrey Chapman: Cambodia

Currently based in New York State, Jeffrey Chapman describes himself quite well by saying that he is a freelance cultural, humanitarian and world photographer. He also worked as a director for a World Bank project in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of western China, as an adviser to the Japanese government's JETRO office in Italy, and as an internationalization and strategy consultant working with corporate clients, presidents and prime ministers in Europe, Asia and North America.

Jeffrey is currently a member of the senior staff at the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees in Utica, NY, working as an advocate for refugees (primarily Burmese/Karen, Somali and Iraqi) who are resettling in the United States.

Most of Jeffrey's photographs are of Cambodia, although his second and third galleries feature portraits and scenes of Laos and Vietnam.

Justin Mott: Hanoi

Photo ©Justin Mott/NYTimes-All Rights Reserved.
The New York Times' Travel section features Justin Mott's photographs of Hanoi. The accompanying article (by Naomi Lindt) highlights how the capital city of Vietnam experienced remarkable growth since the 1990s , by shedding its grimness and morphing into a sleek metropolis with high-rises, world-class cuisine and art.

I've photographed in Vietnam for an NGO in 2003, and had one week to cover various assignments from Hanoi to Can Tho in the south, and consequently acquired a limited view of this country and of its people.

Justin Mott and his work were featured quite often on this blog; for instance Saigon, Cremation in Bali, Cambodia, and a 1 on 1 Interview.

Paul Panayiotou: Vietnam

Image © Paul Panayiotou-All Rights Reserved
I had quite a bit of trouble choosing which of Paul Panayiotou's galleries would I feature on The Travel Photographer blog. Would it be his work on Cuba, Egypt (very tempting) or Vietnam? And how could I leave out Cambodia, Spain and Cyprus? Finally, I decided on Vietnam...it's my blog after all.

Paul is a freelance travel photographer based in London, and whose work appears in The Observer, The Guardian, the Sunday Telegraph, as well as TIME magazine, Four Four Two, Rough Guides, nationalgeographic.com and Fodor's.

The above photograph is of Cao Dai adherents in Tay Ninh.

Justin Mott: HCM City (Saigon)

Photo © Justin Mott/NYT-All Rights Reserved
Here's a slideshow of photographs by Justin Mott as featured in the Travel section of The New York Times' website under the caption of A Weekend in Ho Chi Minh City.

I haven't been to Vietnam for a couple of years, and these photographs show the immense strides that Vietnam's main cities have taken towards modernization. Sure, there were already quite a few phenomenally good restaurants in HCM City when I was there, but it seems the number has grown exponentially since.

The first image of the slideshow is of the famed Rex Hotel whose rooftop terrace is not only where the international correspondents were covering the Vietnam war, but where I had the best grilled seafood in Asia.

Justin Mott was featured on TTP a number of times. An interview is here, a post here, and here

Kevin German: Vietnam

Photograph Kevin German-All Rights Reserved
Kevin German studied photography and journalism at the Washington State University, and worked throughout the United States as a newspaper photojournalist until 2008 when he traveled to Vietnam to work on social documentaries.

Kevin's photo essays include transgenders in New York City, cock-fighting in Panama, the "Salt People" of Vietnam, and a lovely gallery of South East Asia Portraits. Under the section "Wander" is his travel gallery of Vietnam and the Philippines.

By the way, since I'm such a fan of controlled blurred images, there's one in Kevin's Vietnam gallery which is wonderful!

Karen Kasmauski: Viet Nam

Image © Karen Kasmauski-All Rights Reserved
Since 1984, Karen Kasmauski has photographed at least 25 major stories for National Geographic Magazine. She has traveled from Malaysia's rainforests to the megacities of India to the Alaskan wilderness, covered earthquakes in Japan, been arrested in Africa and exposed to radiation in Russia.

Karen has been profiled on the Charlie Rose show and the National Geographic Channel. She has been featured in a variety of online photographic projects for National Geographic and other web sites. She has taught at numerous workshops and conferences, including the annual Women in Photojournalism conference. She is a frequent speaker at National Geographic's Masters of Photography lecture series.

Her website is replete with beautiful photographs, and I liked her Viet Nam images the best...the photograph of the fisherman is just superb. So explore her website and see her excellence for yourself.

Karen Kasmauski

Alan Soon: Viet Nam

Image © Alan Soon-All Rights Reserved
Alan Soon is a photographer from Singapore with an affinity for "vintage" rangefinders and for traditional film processing. A producer for a global financial TV news network, he has been in journalism for 13 years; a career that has taken him to television, radio and magazine newsrooms in Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

He started photographing in his early teens with a Minolta X-300, and now uses compact rangefinders, most of them older than he. He shares his apartment with some 30 antique cameras, the eldest a 1949 Canon IIb, engraved "Made in Occupied Japan" which still works.

Alan traveled widely across Asia, North America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, which, along with his interesting cameras, makes him an obvious candidate for the pages of TTP.

I feature his work of Hoi An in Viet Nam which Alan describes as "In its heyday, as a major port in East Asia, it stood as a contemporary of Melaka and Macau. The architecture reflects that heritage: the town is home to building designs left behind by the Japanese, early Chinese settlers, and Dutch, French and Portuguese traders. Many of the homes and stores are well preserved, with some over three hundred years old.

Apart from using black & white film, Alan's photographic style has an edge to it...part travel and part documentary. Explore his various galleries, and you'll know what I mean.

Alan Soon's Monsoon Photo

New York Times: Culinary Vietnam

Image Copyright © Chang W. Lee/New York Times-All Rights Reserved
The New York Times brings us a short slideshow of photographs by Chang W. Lee on various culinary styles in Vietnam. Street food is extremely popular in Vietnam, and it's well represented here in this feature.

The post's photograph above of a typical Vietnamese restaurant reminds me of those I visited while photographing in Vietnam for a well-known NGO. The patrons ate without talking much, and spat chicken bones and gristle on the floor. Naturally, I did the same.

The NYTimes' Culinary Vietnam.

One Shot: Felice Willat

Having co-founded Day Runner Inc, Felice Willat is now founder and president of Tools With Heart, a company that develops products to inspire and enhance personal discovery and well being. A successful entrepreneur, and with a strong background in network television production, Felice is also an accomplished photographer, selling a selection of her photographs through Tools With Hearts' website.

Felice recently visited Vietnam, and I chose one of her beautiful photographs from Hanoi, which she titled "Hanoi Prayers". The photograph of this serene scene was taken in the very early morning hours as she walked around Hoan Kiem Lake located in the center of Hanoi. It is also called Lake of the Restored Sword derived from a legend. Felice tells me that thousands of people arrive daily at the lake for prayers, tai chi and many other beautiful movements with colorful fans and swords.

It is said that when visiting Hanoi, if the visitor does not see the Sword Lake, then they would not have actually been in Hanoi. The lake is an endless topic and inspiration for painters, poets, writers, music composers, etc, and innumerable works about the lake have been produced.

Richard Van Le: Cao Dai

Balian in Canggu-Image Copyright Tewfic El-Sawy
Richard Van Le is a New York City photographer, with impressive images from Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.

His website has a handful of galleries, and his images of the Balians (Balinese rural healers) managed to capture the mystical elements of these healers' profession. I documented Balians during my stay in Bali, and I recognize some of them in his gallery. However, it is his work on the Cao Dai in Vietnam which I recommend on TTP.

Cao Dai was established in the Southern regions of Vietnam in the early 1920's as an attempt to create a perfect synthesis of world religions. It is a combination of Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Hinduism, Geniism, and Taoism.

Van Le's website is Flash-based and you can visit his Cao Dai and other galleries here

John McDermott: Images of Asia

Image Copyright John McDermott
John McDermott has been photographing Southeast Asia since the early 1990s, and traveled extensively throughout the region. During these travels, he developed a strong interest in the many cultural heritage sites and ancient historical ruins spread across the continent.

He witnessed the total eclipse of the sun at Angkor in Cambodia in October of 1995, and seeing the monuments in the eerie surreal light of the eclipse, inspired him to use infrared film to render the subjects most closely to what he saw then. His superb prints combine the impressionistic, moody effects of infrared film with a subtle sepia tone to achieve this effect.

McDermott's gallery in Siem Reap is a must for anyone visiting Angkor Wat, who has an interest in beautiful imagery.

From his simple-to-navigate website, I've chosen his excellent Indochina gallery which showcases images from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia.

Here's Images of Asia; Indochina