China Beach blues
The first time I visited China Beach (the famous American R’n’R stretch of coastline outside Danang) was in 1997. Aside from the Furama, which opened that year, and a decaying old Soviet hotel, the beach was essentially 30 kilometers of undeveloped, windswept sand. Fishermen went about their business every morning, making the short walk from [...]
Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival 2009
A little slow getting this set up here. Had to drive down to central Vietnam earlier this week to cover Typhoon Ketsana. There are a few images of the buffalo being butchered, so be warned. Check out some of Aaron’s images from the same festival here. Enjoy! Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival 2009 – Images [...]
Canon Photomarathon Asia 2009
Last year I griped about Canon’s copyright grab for their otherwise cool photomarathon. They said, The organisers reserve the right to use any submitted photograph for any purposes without compensation to the photographer. Which was totally ridiculous and in my opinion completely negated any possible corporate goodwill intended in the event. So, this year’s edition [...]
Reflections of a new father visiting an Agent Orange orphanage
Yesterday I went to an orphanage outside Hanoi, to work on a story about Agent Orange. There’s a new report out from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, saying the chemical defoliant could be causing heart disease and Parkinson’s in US Vietnam veterans. Of course this means it would be having the same effect on [...]
Robert McNamara, US Secretary of Defense during Vietnam War, dies aged 93
McNamara was famously remourseful about his role in the Vietnam War in his later years, as recorded by Errol Morris in “The Fog of War“. His critics said that was much too little, too late. Though unlike Donald Rumsfeld, he did seem to genuinely carry the burden of his role in the deaths of thousands [...]
Haiphong Cement: just not the same without Denilson
Went out to Haiphong today to shoot former global footbal top dog Denilson make his debut for Haiphong Cement. In the end, he didn’t dress, but watched the game from the stands. Understandably, the paying public were rather upset, as scalpers had charged a premium for the rare chance to watch some Brazilian magic on [...]
Yin / Yang
Last week I flew down to Phu Quoc, a lovely island off the southwest coast of Vietnam, for a luxury resort shoot. The manager, being a warm, generous soul, said it would be fine for my family to come along and stay in one of their swank villas for the week while I toiled (er, [...]
Fotorim magazine interview, HIV/AIDS project
Berna and the good people at Fotorim magazine must have been a bit starved for content for their April issue, as they kindly produced an interview with me, discussing a project covering HIV/AIDS in Vietnam and thoughts on photography in general. You can read the whole thing in both Turkish and English over here on [...]
Canon 5DmkII, same price in HCMC as NYC?!?
I’ll likely be purchasing a new 5DmkII sometime this year, and since I’m in North America for a few months, I thought it would likely be best to do it now while I can take advantage of stock and pricing in New York. But I thought first I’d ask a few friends in Vietnam what [...]
GOLF Magazine : Tour of Duty
The February 2009 edition of Sports Illustrated’s GOLF Magazine features a story I shot late last year about Ron Chambers, an American veteran who returns to Vietnam to reconnect with the country he fought in as a marine 40 years ago. I haven’t seen the print edition yet, but the article is online here. This [...]
Urban panoramas
I’ve been working with a real estate consulting firm the past few months, photographing some of their projects in Hanoi and Danang. Most of the shoots were at construction sites, in varying stages of development. Here’s an image shot from the roof of a hotel in Hanoi, overlooking the southern edge of Hai Ba Trung [...]
Hanoi’s blue notes
Last week I was shooting an assignment on the jazz scene in Hanoi. I’m not sure if Hanoi’s reputation for having an actual jazz “scene” is warranted, but if there is a scene, its focal point has always been – and continues to be – Minh’s Jazz Club, in the heart of the old quarter. [...]
TIME Magazine Hero of the Environment 2008: Vo Quy
I had a really fun portrait assignment with TIME Magazine last week. They were doing their environmental heroes issue, and Hannah Beech had written about Vo Quy, a gentle, good-humoured 79 year-old ornithologist and a strong voice for environmental awareness in a country that has seen incredible urban and industrial growth in the past two [...]
Solid gold
Last month I shot an assignment for the World Gold Council. With Vietnam’s previously robust economy now suffering from massive inflation, people are turning to gold as a safe investment. I was able to take a brief look into the phenomena of banks and trading companies branding their own gold to sell on the market. [...]
The state of the working photographer today
Here’s a fascinating article written by Vincent Laforet, a former staff photographer with the NYTimes. He talks about the general hard times in the media industry at the moment, and in particular how this affects photographers. There’s a lot of doom and gloom in the air these days, and for good reason. Assignment rates have [...]
In transit….
(12:36am) In the Vancouver airport. So clean, so quiet. The opposite of the Saigon street-scene below. My flight leaves at 2:55am. Rather painful…. ((12:51am) My thoughts turn to food. Selection at the Vancouver airport around 1am is limited to vending machines. I’d love a bowl of pho right about now….
On Photography: Through a story of “the Building”
I wanted to link to a very interesting photography project going on nearby in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. “This photographic art project explores Phnom Penh’s past, present and future through the juxtaposition of different photographic perspective – historical, family album, participatory and professional – all of which focus on one subject: the Municipal Apartments at Bassac [...]
From the archives, Vol.I – Reunification Palace, HCMC
An editorial client contacted me last week, asking if I had any images of the Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). Luckily i really love that place, and I have a set of images shot a few years ago. I quickly dropped an image set onto my Digital Railroad online archive, and [...]