Hanoi, Vietnam is the city I miss the most from my year of travelling Asia. It is the perfect environment for street photography: everyone lives their lives open to the world on the street.
Whether eating every meal on plastic stools on the sidewalk, shops of all kinds with an open fourth wall to the street, or getting around on scooters: there’s no hiding nor an expectation of privacy. Your routines, relationships, and emotions are open for the world to see.
While different from the West, I found it endearing. Seeing and smiling at others and sharing in joy and laughter made it a welcoming environment. Compared to most Western nations with closed doors and 4-door cars where privacy is an expectation.
As a street photographer who now lives in London, the photography environment in Hanoi I’ve come to miss. London is a city full of density with endless characters and stories, but everyone is on their own journey when they leave the house. While there’s no shortage of decisive moments to document here in London, observing the shared experiences in collectivist nations like Vietnam offers a greater sense of connection to the subjects you’re photographing.
Seeing full families of four or more piled onto one scooter laughing and enjoying themselves brought back childhood memories and an excitement for family life to come. That said, I can’t say my entire family have attempted to fit on a single scooter before nor will I attempt that – but the laughter and closeness they had (even physically) brought up good feelings.
I missed Hanoi the most because of the sense of home that we felt there. Beyond comfort food for every meal (I thought I’d be sick of pho, but I wasn’t), it was the first time on our journey we had an apartment for the month versus a tiny room in a hostel. We could leave our items scattered and we forgot what it was like to have a couch and television again.
In our first weeks, I kept a GoPro on top of my camera to document the wider world beyond what my Canon camera lens would see. The result is 60 minutes of relaxing street photography showing the slice of life that is Hanoi, Vietnam.
If you’re interested in documenting the world around you, whether in your own city or telling the story of your next travel destination, my guide on overcoming the awkwardness of street photography may help give you the confidence to photograph strangers in a respectful way.
I invite you to follow my most recent work on Instagram and check out my coming Hanoi YouTube videos and photo collections on Lunar New Year (Tết) throughout December.
This is the first part in a five-part series on Hanoi during Lunar New Year. The second shows a realistic day of street photography, the third shows Hanoi’s chaotic markets on Lunar New Year’s Eve, and the fourth highlights Hanoi’s craziest flower market.
Please enjoy my digital zine below: a collection of the images shared in my video, designed to be scrolled.
