Maika Elan: The Pink Choice

"I want to show simply how they care and love each other in daily activities."-Maika Elan

According to the web edition of Thanh Nien, an influential newspaper in Vietnam, Maika has changed Vietnams entire conception of what it means to be gay and in love with her seminal work The Pink Choice.

Sensitive and compelling...that's The Pink Choice in two words.

I'm not going to rewrite what has already been written on Maika and her various projects, but I have to mention a couple of things: first off I had written a post on her work two years ago, much before I met her at subsequent photo events, and I ended that post with this:

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

I was right.

I subsequently met her in Siem Reap where we were both attending the Angkor Photo Festival, and invited her to work with me in planning and setting up my Vietnam Photo Expedition-Workshop, which she did. She helped me during the 15 days of its duration and earned the heartfelt appreciation of all involved.

The Pink Choice will be exhibited from the 15th of November to the 2nd of December at the Goethe Institut, 56 58 Nguyen Thai Hoc, in Hanoi.

Do go see it if you're there!

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The Travel Photographer's "Cafe Dao (& Love)"

"No one in our village was as beautiful as she was...we liked each other since we were 12 years old..."

A foreign stranger suddenly walks up to you while you're relaxing on your front porch, with cameras dangling off his shoulders, asking to document your daily life. What would your reaction be?

Well, Thai Truang Dao happily said yes. Of course, Maika Elan was there to explain my purpose, but Mr Dao's hospitality went beyond the inherent politeness shown to a foreign guest. Allowing me into his home (and his life)...and at one point, gesturing me to go up the creaky stairs to photograph a now little used second floor, where his family's shrine and portraits were carefully laid out...is a testament to his kindness.

His candor during the lengthy interviews was natural, and brought Maika and I into their life which they shared for over 60 years.

Thai Truang Dao is a 92 years old Vietnamese, living in Hoi An with his wife, Thai Mo Ba. He established Cafe Dao in the mid forties, before the battle of Dien Bien Phu and much before the Vietnam War (known as the American War in Vietnam). He recalls Cafe Dao as being a meeting place for socializing, gossip and friendship, not only for good coffee.

Bao and his wife were school mates but after graduation didn't meet until she was 28 years old. Very unusually for a Vietnamese woman at that time, Ba hadn't married...waiting for Bao whom she loved but had never shown nor expressed. Meeting again by happenstance, they got married.

Bao wasn't drafted by the Vietcong during the American war due to his Chinese ancestry.

Snippets of their lifestory in just over 3 minutes.

You can also watch it in its native Soundslides format below (it's a better resolution).

Tewfic El-Sawy- Maika with Mr Dao during the photo shoots.

Maika Elan. Tewfic with Mr Dao at the end of the photo shoots

Initial Draft Story Board For Cafe Dao

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Ehrin Macksey: Hanoi, Calm After The Storm

As my readers know, I was in Hanoi about two weeks ago, and one of my favorite street photography haunts was the Hoan Kiem district, especially in the streets where vendors sold toys, lanterns, masks, and other gaudy decorations in anticipation of the mid-Autumn festival in early October.  The crowds were simply overwhelming in the late evening when young people congregated there to have fun.

Ehrin Macksey, a photojournalist/photographer and filmaker living in Hanoi, decided to photograph the streets of Hanoi the first morning of Tet, another huge festival in Vietnam...after the chaos and bustle at the end of each January or beginning of February that characterize the period leading to Tet.

As you'll see from Ehrin's video of his stills, the calm that replaces the preceding chaos is eerie. He describes Hanoi as being in a Valium induced state. The streets are empty and one can hear birds clearly while walking down some of the larger streets in the city like Dai Co Viet.

I recommend a visit to Ehrin Macksey's website; especially his South East Asia Travel Photography gallery...a lot of gems!

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The Lady From Hanoi

"I miss the quiet streets of Hanoi..."

Here's a vignette of a story produced by Humanity.tv which caught my eye, especially as I've just returned from Hanoi and loved its people, its overall buzz, its incredible food, and most certainly the slaloming scooters and motorcycles that whizzed past me as I crossed the streets.

The short movie clip is about Ms Nahm, who seems to be longing for the calmer days in Hanoi. I say 'seems' because there's no dialogue (only a musical soundtrack and some ambient sound) to explain who Ms Nahm is. All we get to know is what we see...and that she appears to be an artist (or sells artwork), lives with an elderly person (possibly her husband) and likes to dance.

It would've been wonderful to hear Ms Nahm's voice, and some of her narration...and get to know her a little better. She seems to be quite a character. If I was still in Hanoi, I'd look for her and hear her story.

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The Travel Photographer's "Hilltribes In The Mist"

Following my Vietnam: North of the 16th Parallel Photo-Expedition/Workshop, here's a short audio-slideshow documenting some of the hill tribes of North Western Vietnam in Sa Pa and Bac Ha. Mostly Hmong and Dzao, and a handful from over 10 other tribes, they attend Bac Ha's famous Sunday market to buy, sell, barter and eat.

There are 10 Montagnard groups that live around Bac Ha: the Flower Hmong are the most visible (and seen in the slideshow), but other groups include Dzao, Giay (Nhang), Han (Hoa), Xa Fang, Lachi, Nung, Phula, Thai and Thula.

The still photographs were made with a Leica M9, Canon 5D Mark II and the Fuji X Pro-1. When using the latter, I mostly shot from the hip. The audio was recorded on a Tascam DR-40. The images were post-processed using Alien Skin Software.

The audio-slideshow can also be viewed on my Vimeo site.

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Richard Van L: Cao Dai

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

Cao Dai (Cao i) 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 Lis a New York City-based photographer, filmmaker, and multimedia designer. He is the founder of 138 Media LLC.

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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!

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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.

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