Chasing Photos and Getting Chased in Hanoi, Vietnam

This month I went out to shoot an assignment I give members of my online photography community, and I wanted to share the full story of how it actually went down. Because it wasn’t smooth. It rarely is.

My first idea was a small blacksmith business in the old quarter of Hanoi. They agreed and everything seemed cool, but when we showed up they said they weren’t working yet and seemed to stonewall me a bit. This place had fire, sparks, metal, and it was mostly outdoors. It would’ve been perfect.

I decided to pivot and wander a bit, and while sitting down for a coffee to come up with a new game plan, I took a few shots of these two men in front of a bamboo ladder store. They were so visual, all their tattoos, both shirtless with bald heads. I took my sneaky shots first and I was thinking, hmmm, maybe I’ll approach them. I reached for my little point and shoot zoom for a tighter shot than I could get with my Leica M and 50mm. Just as I was about to shoot, they got really confrontational: middle finger, expletives. I kept my cool and didn’t engage, just quietly moved on. This isn’t normal in Hanoi at all, but later on I noticed their “No Photo” sign. Whoops, ha ha. I’ll take the blame her, photographer error and I apologized.

All good, but I didn’t give up, and I wandered into a watch and clock repair shop. I sat with the owners, husband and wife, we had tea, and they agreed to let me spend an hour there. They couldn’t have been more kind and generous. The light wasn’t great, all overhead fluorescent lights, but the environment was friendly and the place was interesting to me. This is a good lesson: don’t give up on a day even after some bad experiences.

I also came across this woman here. How cool is she with her sunglasses? This is such a quintessential Hanoi scene.

Okay, these are my best 5 from my little story.

If I’m going to critique myself and go back again, my focus would be on getting more interactions and moments. I would redo the portrait of the owner and maybe instead of photographing him in good light by the entrance, go with a shot inside with worse light but more context. I’d also try to see his eye magnified more through the loupe with a tighter shot. I feel like that would’ve been a fun shot if I noticed it at the time. Lastly, a macro shot would really be the way to go here for a detail shot of the gears and such, so I’d go back with a macro lens.

Overall, for an hour, I’m pleased with the results, and a rollercoaster day, but not giving up made it all worth it.

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