Sneak Peak | Sula Fashion AW2013

Here’s a quick look at some new fashion work I shot in Hanoi, for Sula Clothing out of the UK. Sula has been a regular client of mine for a few years now, and I always look forward to their new collections. Our styles match up perfectly, and Alison, the owner and designer, is always game to take a few risks with the photography. I really couldn’t ask for a better client relationship. For most of the images this time around, we went to old abandoned factory in the capital, plus a short-time guesthouse, to get a really gritty, tactile feel to the pictures. Much thanks to everyone involved. Until next time.

Some Words | Consistency in Photography

So I usually reserve this blog for short bursts of inspiration, irreverent postings, and off-topic ramblings, but I think today I’d like to talk a little about consistency in photography. It’s something I’ve been thinking about, since I’m in the middle of a pretty big update to my website, and so I’m looking through my photographs, trying to tie things together and pace things properly and just generally create a mood and vibe that is steady across the entire portfolio. Thus I’ve come to this idea of consistency. Though hopefully not a foolish one.

I didn’t grow up in the heyday of photography, if there ever was one. The only way that I’ve ever known to be a photographer is by fighting, sometimes tooth and nail, to make a name for myself. And in time this has led to some great jobs with great clients under several different disciplines. I’ve shot for six-star resorts on small islands off the coast of Southeast Asia, I’ve traveled through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, India, and China on magazine and newspaper assignments, I’ve done fashion shoots with designers from the UK and France, and I’ve worked on ad campaigns for some very big name clients across Vietnam. All in addition to the documentary and portraiture work I do on my own time.

The most difficult thing is having my style of photography come across these different disciplines while keeping my clients happy. I want people to see my fashion work and my travel work and my ad work and know that they’ve all been shot by the same photographer. I want that slight edge to show in my lifestyle photos, I want to keep some of my ad shoots a bit gritty and exotic, and I want my fashion photographs to have an air of mystery to them and to invoke that same sense of discovery that you should see in great travel images. I want everything to tie back together, even if the thread is sometimes a bit more difficult to find. I guess I want to show consistency in variety. If that makes sense.

Anyway, the photographs in this post don’t follow any kind of storyline. They’re from across Asia, from different projects and assignments, and they’re just images that I’ve been sifting through recently. If you have a spare minute, you can see my updated website here: Aaron Joel Santos Photography.

Vietnam | Fashion Photography

Just some quick shots from a fashion shoot I did a few months back for a local clothing company in Hanoi, Kilomet 109. The owner is a good friend and an extremely talented fashion designer. The shoot was a lot of fun. With nods to Gustav Klimt and Annie Leibovitz, among others. Plus just copious amounts of flowers and incense.

Notes From a Small Chinese Village

It’s always a nice surprise to be surprised by a place. Which happened for me on a recent trip to China. I was on assignment in Dali City, in western Yunnan province, and I was staying with a friend of a friend, in a small hamlet surrounded by farmlands about 15km outside of the old town. Everything about it just seemed to click into place: the location, the pace of life, and the solitude. The narrow lanes were empty most of the day. There were no English signs in sight. And at times it seemed as if dairy cows outnumbered actual residents. These are three quick shots from the neighborhood. From a nice morning stroll.

Two Women | Hanoi, Vietnam

I had the pleasure to meet and photograph two women musicians in Hanoi this week while on assignment for a local magazine. Both are very talented and very different from each other, in terms of style and approach. Linh Nguyen, on the left, currently spins as a DJ several nights a week at some of Hanoi’s most fashionable bars/lounges, while Kim Ngoc, on the right, composes more experimental pieces and is in the process of opening up an arts-based collaborative NGO with other creatives in the capital. It was a happy accident, but I really liked how the color palettes in the photographs complimented each other, the reds and greens. Sometimes it’s that simple.

Chinatown & The iPhone Diaries

I make no bones about it: I love the camera on my iPhone. Mostly when it’s being used through the Hipstamatic app. There’s something unassuming about it. The images don’t hold the same gravity as those taken with my Canon camera. The exact same photograph can manage to feel lighter and less consequential. In a good way. I find myself shooting all of the little things that catch my eye and a lot of the fleeting scenes and details from my travels. When I’m walking around on my own, I really don’t like lugging around a large camera. This is something I’ve had to come to terms with, as a professional photographer. These days I’m fine with it. I’ve even gotten some work because of my phone photos. Including a magazine cover story I just finished shooting in southern Cambodia. Some people will always decry phone photography as the death of the art. But they’re no fun. And they’re missing the point. It’s about freedom, not limitations.

This small selection here is from Chinatown in Bangkok. Taken during an afternoon while I was waiting for a visa to be processed. You can see more images in The iPhone Diaries section of my website. Or you can do like the cool kids and follow me on Instagram. Stay beautiful. Stay tuned.

Travel Photographs | Hanoi, Vietnam

I did some work a few months back for Private Clubs magazine out of the USA, for a travel story on the food scene in Hanoi. It’s a story that’s been done to death by magazines and bloggers the world over, but the writer really did his research, and hit the literal pavement to dig in as deep as he could into the food culture in the capital. And for that, I commend him. He met with several food bloggers and writers and other locals and expats during his trip to Hanoi, and the research shows. It was great to see him digging into bowls of snails and plates of roasted duck at bia hois, and not just sitting in a crystal castle at the Metropole Hotel or at Didier Corlou’s restaurant. Those places are fine–great even–but if we’re going to talk about food in Hanoi, let’s talk about plastic stools and wet markets and cursing vendors and chicken bones and fragrant broths mixing with motorbike fumes and all the rest. Living here, it’s easy to forget what a great city this is for food. It’s unique and interesting and always kind of playing second fiddle to Malaysia or Thailand or even southern Vietnamese cuisine. But I’ll take Hanoi any day of the week. So thanks to Michael Kaplan for a great article, and to the entire team at Private Clubs for running the story, and for hiring me to walk around and do what I love to do. Take photos.