MONDAY-TUESDAY, MAY 4-5, 2009
Greetings from Sapa, Vietnam. This mountain top town is about a 10 hour drive northwest of Hanoi. It once was a resort town for the French, who fled here during the hot summer months to escape the heat in Hanoi. Now, it is an interesting mix of mountain ethnic people, tourists and other assortments of people who think this unusual place, which is often shrouded in fog, which indeed it is tonight, is kind of a cool place to hang out.
We've ended up here after two days of driving and photo shooting. My photographer friend, Long Ly, was at the Hanoi airport to pick me up and we started shooting in a small village an hour outside of Hanoi on Monday morning. Our driver, Tony, does not speak any English, but maneuvers our SUV through the traffic adeptly, whether it be the crowded motorbike packed streets of the city, or the narrow, one-lane mountain roads of the countryside. He sometimes plays club dance tunes and keeps a lime green Buddha on his dashboard.
I am using this trip to try and make progress on a book I have been reading off-and-on for nearly two years -- John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. I seem to only find time to read it when I travel. The book was on a reading list of great American literary works suggested when I took a workshop with Rodney Smith, one of the best contemporary portrait photographers around. I had somehow missed reading the book in high school or college and the workshop seemed like a good opportunity.
It doesn't take long to figure out why Smith had it on his reading list. Steinbeck's characters are so vivid and rich and his descriptions of time and place are so good that you can almost taste the dust bowl of the Southwest. He paints a graphic picture that in each scene tells a story about the difficult lives of his characters. And that is what a successful portrait does -- it is narrative and reveals a moment that connects the viewer with the character and soul of the subject.
In a 1938 letter, Steinbeck wrote: "My whole work drive has been aimed at making people understand each other."
It would seem a noble goal for a photographer, too. As I have been making images these last two days, I have captured a lot of people shots, intruding on the privacy and taking advantage of the friendliness of Vietnam's farmers, laborers and peddlers. They've smiled and frowned and offered a look at themselves and their lives. I hope I will be successful in a small way of achieving what Steinbeck did so well with words.
Faces hold so many stories. Nice work Robert.
ReplyDeleteI love your new photos because they focus on people. They certainly tell a more personal story than say landscapes. How are they about having their pictures taken? These people seem to not mind, but have you had other, more negative reactions? Please be safe and have fun!
ReplyDeleteIt depends on what part of the country you are in. If you are in the well-traveled parts where the locals are accustomed to tourists, they demand money or ask that you buy a souvenir. In the more remote areas like far North Vietnam, where I was the last several days, most folks did not ask us for anything. But in cases where they cooperated for a series of shots, we gave them something. Even models have to eat!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos Robert! If you finish Grapes of Wrath, read East of Eden. It takes a 100 pages to get into it, but then you won't want to put it down. The short chapter on describing the country as it passes through the Civil War was just amazing.
ReplyDeleteI will put it on my list. I do love his writing, even if it takes time. These days we are so hooked on everything quick -- action movies, etc., we want everything to read like USA Today!
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