If when I was a child I had been told, that I would live for years like this on the edge of the world in the tropics, seeing exotic plants and animals every day, I would have been the happiest child.
Another question is that the world has no "edge" in the 21st century. Everything is so intertwined nowadays, millions of cameras broadcast everything on social media, and everyone travels so often... And this fact seems to devalue the entire experience. Simply having something is never enough for us, humans, - we want to have it exclusively. Herd beings. that's why. We see hierarchies everywhere, with a cozy place at the top for ourselves. And perhaps this is not bad. After all, we, humans, are primates, and it is not right to deny our nature.
The boy I was once would also be surprised to learn how shyness would one day be left behind. I mean, I feel embarrassed regularly but I have come to a deep understanding that a healthy portion of shyness is a positive trait. I also realized that awkward situations do not ruin life but rather decorate it. And I keep in mind that when I photograph strangers.
The truth is that I have another limiter: interest in people.
When such interest arises in me, I begin to see individuality in the flow of people and their beauty as characters, and this awakens the ability and desire to photograph them.
Nevertheless, I usually focus on scenes rather than on certain people, like, a yellowish fence with three people drinking coffee, and parked motorbike. And that makes me feel more confident: I focus on city life, not on someone's private life, beauty, or ugliness.
If someone doesn't want to be photographed, they can sabotage the shot. It's their right. Moreover, such hiding people can make a good picture.
Sometimes, I ask for consent with a gesture, and if people say "no", I always say thank you cheerfully. But that's Vietnam - people usually don't mind or just happy. And there are reasons for that.
Of course, being a foreigner is helpful. You are a traveler and everyone knows that travelers like taking images. Also, Vietnamese care about the reputation of Vietnam so they want to show their country is the most friendly place. But that's not all.
The Vietnamese have this special set of mind you can see in the way they drive and park motorbikes and how they use the common space on sidewalks. They do create obstacles for other drivers and passersby and suppose that other people will calmly weave through the road filled with moving and parked bikes, tables, chairs, stalls, goods, tools, etc. If everyone is suppose to weave through others, what's the problem with taking photographs of strangers? Just keep weaving through and smile.
And, no, this is not "Asian". The Thais are the opposite. They avoid creating obstacles, even emotional obstacles for people around them. But Vietnamese don't care about being inconvenient to others since, in Vietnam, every person is supposed to be water calmly flowing around everything on its way.
This is how I feel about the Vietnamese, maybe, I am wrong...
Secondly, less touristy areas are much easier. People aren't tired of foreigners' attention. Moreover, they sometimes ask you to photograph them.
This amazing lady called me over when I was passing and I only could understand that she wanted to be photographed (I preferred to understand this way 😁). I was confused with the scene where two persons were posing while others kept playing cards so... probably, I failed to take a good image from the point of compostion... but I still like something in this photograph.
This Vietnamese man asked me to stop and have a talk with his guest, a guy from Uganda. Probably, he was sorry he couldn't speak English to entertain the African. Alas, when people start posing, it's usually difficult to do anything except just push the button.
The youth called me to have a general talk. So people are quite sociable (and that's another difference with Thailand where people don't want to bother strangers). But Vietnamese people respect your time and are endowed with tact so meeting strangers is easy here.
All I said are generalizations. There are different people in Vietnam, and not everyone loves being photographed.
But, yeah, this country in general is really friendly to street photography. And I hope I can take full advantage of this opportunity.
More stories from Southeast Asia are ahead! Check out my previous posts on my personal Travelfeed or Worldmappin map.
I took these images with a Nikkor 50mm on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 in September 2024, in Hue, Vietnam.
Dear @x-rain friend... What can I say that I haven't said before?... You are an extremely talented photographer and you also know how to capture the human essence around you perfectly!... Applause!!!
!discovery 40
!PIZZA
!gif applause
I like a lot this portrait!!!! WOW!
Via Tenor
Very generous praise! Good mood for good sleep (1:20 am in Vietnam), thank you, Jesus!! Have a good day!
In the country where I live people are not usually receptive to a photograph, because they think you have bad intentions, even a few days ago a man was upset by taking a picture of the facade of his shop and thought I was going to use it for bad intentions, but well it is always like that there are those who like it and others do not, so I always try not to be invasive when taking pictures of strangers.
Same do I. Moreover, invasion usually destroys the moment that was the trigger for photographing. At the same time...
I encountered this negativity only in its soft form in Eastern Europe. Some people feel offended because you "break" their privacy, some people feel they are a target for an action with a sexual context, etc. I believe that's a cult of being offended, people have been taught this sick emotional pattern and found this pleasant. They also know that being bullies towards photographers is safe.
I don't accept this negativity against street photography as a norm. I know that many people who don't like street photography work as cops (which is pitiful in countries where cops are all corrupt), commercial doctors, tax collectors, sellers, taxi drivers, bureaucrats, etc. The list of annoying jobs are endless, and someone with a camera is the least annoying thing you can come across. When I take images I keep it in mind. Street photography isn't harmful in any way, and photographers legally have the right (except a short list of countries).
Sometimes, a camera can make a person feel watched or stuff like that, it's indeed an intrusion. But what about thousands of people sneezing openly, isn't that (viral) intrusion? What about traffic jams and road accidents for the reason people simply want to enjoy their own cars instead of traveling by public transport? What about crowds in public transport in the rush hours? It's because public space means intrusion. If someone doesn't want it, they have their homes to stay.
For situations when Eastern Europeans want to talk to me about how they are upset, I have answers. And this is an advantage not to be a traveler from a faraway country. "Stop interfering with my work", "If this is a problem for you, call the police, or go away now", etc.
Once in Kolkata, India, a local man came to me and asked if I had a permission to shoot (that was on a street). I answered him (without even a slight smile): "I have a permission. God gave it to me". The man got confused and walked away without answering. :D
The important thing is that you keep taking those photographic records and despite the inconveniences that may occur, there is always something positive in all of this.
wonderful, great work @x-rain
Pleasure to get such feedback, @grafvisionsp, thank you!
Love how expressive people are when being spontaneous shot with a camera on the street! They seem so natural. Awesome shooting skills too!
Vietnamese are like this. But I hope my personality and skills play a role too. :) Thank you!
Congratulations, your post has been added to the TravelFeed Map! 🎉🥳🌴
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
- Go to TravelFeed Map
- Click the create pin button
- Drag the marker to where your post should be. Zoom in if needed or use the search bar (top right).
- Copy and paste the generated code in your post (any Hive frontend)
- Or login with Hive Keychain or Hivesigner and click "create post" to post to Hive directly from TravelFeed
- Congrats, your post is now on the map!
PS: You can import your previous Pinmapple posts to the TravelFeed map.Opt Out
Congratulations, your post has been added to WorldMapPin! 🎉
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@jlinaresp(8/15) tipped @x-rain
This post was shared and voted inside the discord by the curators team of discovery-it
Join our Community and follow our Curation Trail
Discovery-it is also a Witness, vote for us here
Delegate to us for passive income. Check our 80% fee-back Program
Congratulations @x-rain! You received the biggest smile and some love from TravelFeed! Keep up the amazing blog. 😍 Your post was also chosen as top pick of the day and is now featured on the TravelFeed front page.
Thanks for using TravelFeed!
@for91days (TravelFeed team)
PS: Did you know that we have our own Hive frontend at TravelFeed.com? For your next travel post, log in to TravelFeed with Hive Keychain or Hivesigner and take advantage of our exclusive features for travel bloggers.