I have always had a sort of love-hate relationship with street photography in that I love to see other people’s work, but always end up being incredibly frustrated with it when I try to do it myself. I spent a lot of time last semester going to a few markets, trying to capture the vibrant life of the streets. Last semester I only used film, but this time when I did street photography in Hanoi, Vietnam, I used digital. I think that with street photography, I preferred the digital because it allowed for the bright colors that are so important to life. Having rolls and rolls of film from street, I found that the color allowed by digital brought a better depth and focus to the pictures.

For this shoot in Hanoi, I tried to focus on the faces of the people that filled the streets, and in particular the expressions they showed. Admittedly, I had preconceived notions of how the Vietnamese locals would react to having their photo taken. I thought they would refuse, or even become annoyed, as I had encountered here in Malaysia. However, it turned out that for the most part they were excited to have their picture taken, even wanting to see them afterwards. Another plus of having the digital was that I could show the locals their picture after it was taken. One of the photographs, the one of the man in a leather jacket, is interesting to me because he looks grumpy. A second after the picture was taken, the man smiled broadly and laughed, ecstatic to see his portrait. The entire time I took photos was like that. I assumed, erroneously, that the people of Vietnam wouldn’t welcome my being there, but instead they were welcoming and kind.