Hanoi viewed through Leica M

Very interesting photo Michael. In deed it says a lot of things about Hanoi, such as:- motobike is the main private transport- in 2008, wearing the helmet while driving motobike was not compulsory. It is now.- young folks tend to violate the traffic law quite often. In the picture you showed, 3 pax on a bike is illegal (maximum of 2)If you have chance to visit Hanoi now, you would be surprise how developed it is now. Please do share more photos you have.
 
I like this thread.
Thanks for sharing photos of Hanoi.
I strongly encourage you to capture as much of the daily life street scenes before modern development takes over.

I have a upcoming trip to Vietnam this year end and I am really looking forward to it.
 
A great thread, Nguyen.

I visited your country in September 2009, staying in Hanoi and visiting Ha Long before moving on to Cambodia, and loved it. Your shots bring back many happy memories as my wife and I spent a few days wandering around the city and getting lost! I would post some black and white additions to thread but they're not on a film M and not even on a rangefinder, so don't want to hijack! Walking the streets of Hanoi started me getting into the idea of street photography
 
kiemchacsu said:
Very interesting photo Michael. In deed it says a lot of things about Hanoi, such as:- motobike is the main private transport- in 2008, wearing the helmet while driving motobike was not compulsory. It is now.- young folks tend to violate the traffic law quite often. In the picture you showed, 3 pax on a bike is illegal (maximum of 2)If you have chance to visit Hanoi now, you would be surprise how developed it is now. Please do share more photos you have.
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Before Hanoi I had been to KL and it was amazing how different they were. KL was full of big shopping malls and western consumer culture had been enthusiastically embraced. By comparison Hanoi was quiet and old fashioned. I saw a lot of the city in two weeks and never saw a shopping mall. I did however see the start of some consumer culture and it seemed the population was keen for that, so I wouldn't be surprised to hear there was a lot of retail development. I didn't even see many supermarkets - most of the daily essentials sere being sold on the street by people with stalls in doorways.
 
thank you very much Nguyen for your fascinating photos, for showing Hanoi to us as it is. Yes there are new developments, but still..
thank you also all other contributers to this beautiful thread!

Hanoi is a photographer's paradise. It's a very beautiful city, fascinating street live, gigantic trees lining avenues with colonial buildings, Chinese quarters, a good number of lakes with people enjoying their evening at their shores, and and and.. Highly recommended, so to say ;) ( oops, I had added a photo, but it had not been taken by a Leica M, now deleted )

Rayt said:
I have been to Vietnam dozens of times on business trips as my company has an office there. I have never heard anyone there including friends, relatives (by way of my brother's in laws), co workers, employees, contractors, strangers, while drunk or sober ever mentioned even for a brief moment the "American war" or any sort of regret or hatred toward Americans. Is this an American thing keeping bringing back past conflicts over and over again? Earlier in this thread there was a photo of a child holding a plastic gun, something that could have been from any child in any country but the fact that it was Vietnam reminded the poster about the war. Truly bizarre.
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you must be very right. I am European but still, when I arrived in Vietnam for first time a few years back the 'American war', as it is called here, was on top of my mind. Not so for Vietnamese I fast found out, then I realized: this war ended middle of the 70s, then abt. 35 years, now almost 40 back. Who would, in the 1980s, 35 or 40 years after the second world war had ended, in the US, Europe or any place, constantly think about it?
 
Thank you all for your posts! I will be visiting Hanoi in the first week of October - really looking forward to exploring the streets and meeting the people of this beautiful city!
 
KarlG said:
Thank you all for your posts! I will be visiting Hanoi in the first week of October - really looking forward to exploring the streets and meeting the people of this beautiful city!
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Welcome to the city! Do not hesitate to contact me in case you need some advice or even a couple of beers! Cheers!
 
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