Yesterday’s Photographs

The Vespa Mechanic & More

I went out yesterday to photograph a vintage Vespa mechanic. He rebuilds and refurbishes older bikes from spare and ordered parts, made anywhere from the 1950s to the late 1990s. His shop was filled to brimming with frames, wheels, random gears and engines and everything else you could imagine ever having to do with Vespas or Vespa culture.

He makes everything to order, at times literally beginning with nothing more than an idea and some small piece of the final product. You basically go into his shop and tell him what you’re looking for. He’ll tell you if he can get it together and give you a rough time and price quote. Then you wait one month or three months or however long it takes him to gather everything he needs. It was quite amazing to see his photographs of the final bikes after being in his cramped, dusty and dirty garage. It looks like a meticulous, involved process. A labor of love if ever there was one.

He talked about making bikes for various overseas customers and collectors. About taking over a year to find all the parts and make a vintage early 60s model for someone. About a $10,000 bike. About his father’s love for them as well. About his sons and his old career as a journalist and more. Then he took the writer, translator and me for coffee and lunch. At one point he asked me why I liked Vietnam so much and I had to use him as an example. Totally awesome.

For those in Hanoi, his shop is located in an alley off of an alley off of Pho Hue Street, south of the Old Quarter and nearby the popular restaurant Chim Sao. It doesn’t look like much, but it puts out.

Wonderful Marketing Machine

My agency in the United States, Wonderful Machine, is giving me some nice props in their international mailer this month, which can be viewed HERE. They host some really great photographers, and I always feel woefully inadequate when my images are stacked up next to theirs. Nice to see them respect the black & white as well. My old fine-art instructor would be proud.

Markets in Hanoi

Many people I know here avoid local markets like the plague. They claim chaos, rudeness and ruthless bargaining and go instead to the larger superstores and western groceries scattered throughout the capital. But for me, nothing quite compares, and it’s one of my favorite things to do, both for shopping and taking photographs.

It helps to have a fondness for food and cooking. You soon learn what markets are best for what animals and produce. How pigs are slaughtered twice a day, and if you go in the early morning or late afternoon the cuts of pork you buy are still warm and steaming in the bag. How most vendors will kill, clean and cut the fish you buy right out of the tank. How some chickens come with unlaid yolks still inside. How duck eggs have a bluer hue. How lemons are a goddamn mystery but how limes are dozens to the dollar. And, maybe most importantly, how inexpensive everything can be even without bargaining.

The photographs above are from Dong Xuan Market in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. The inner bowels of the market are something to be reckoned with and the outer streets twist into different alleys that all specialize in a variety of different things. There’s the street where you buy onions, shallots and garlic. The street where you buy dried beans and legumes. The street where you buy knock-off “Grucci” jeans and jackets. The street where you eat between buying other things from other streets and more. It can be a bit overwhelming at times. But why have it any other way?

Everything Is Always Alright

I’m at the end of a good week and the weekend looks like it will be just the right mixture of fun and relaxing, so I’m in high spirits this Friday morning. There’s a lot going on these days, and I wish I had a little more time to go into more detail about some of it. Soon, I’m sure. But for now I’m just going to take an opportunity to say some thank yous and throw a few compliments into the air. See where they fall.

First of all, The Word Ha Noi launch party at Softwater Restaurant was a rollicking success. Though it would be difficult to throw a bad party at such a beautiful location. Thanks to everyone that made it out and to all the wonderful people that I met there. It was good to see so many familiar faces and even better to meet so many new ones. Though I will only be playing a very minimal role in the magazine’s future, it’s in my best interest to try to make it as good as possible in whatever way I am able to. The country is desperate for some good publications. Particularly Hanoi. I like the idea of being able to help rectify that problem.

I’m off to Pleiku and Son La in a little under two weeks for a few quick trips with the US military (and a helicopter ride!). Photographing things. Then after perhaps a quick job in Ninh Binh, just a few hours south of the capital. Also trying to get a new year’s trip to Thailand together, but as of now that’s going to depend on a few other factors.

Lastly, a special thanks to the beautiful and talented Valeska Mosich-Miller, pictured above, for just standing there and making my photography look a whole lot better than it actually is. I had the pleasure of meeting and working with her and fellow model Ha Anh for the first issue of the magazine. Not only are they very talented individuals, but they didn’t blink an eye when I asked them both to climb eight flights of rickety stairs so I could photograph them on a dirty roof overlooking the city’s West Lake district. Awesome people.

Have a good weekend. Go enjoy the great outdoors.

Magazine Launch Party

The Word Ha Noi magazine will have its official launch party in the capital on Wednesday night at Softwater restaurant. The address is 42 Duong 9 F361 An Duong. And if that’s as revealing for you as it was for me, then just know that it’s toward the Red River across from the Sofitel Plaza. Head down that road and keep right until you see Duong 9. Take a left. Go forth until you hit the restaurant. Easy. It’s a beautiful space and should be a fun party. A good way to get through the middle of the week. Who doesn’t like a little free food and booze, anyway?