Mea Culpa

I bought into it.  I really did. 

Worse – I didn’t know I’d bought into it.

Let me tell you how I came to a realization.

Recently, I started putting some of my photos on PBase. This is a site for photographers, not just sharing snaps of the family birthday parties.  As I was wandering around some of the other galleries, I found one by Richard Calmes.  This gentleman is obviously an excellent photographer.  He began his career in 1969 while in Việt Nam.  He has some wonderful B&W shots on the site.  The man has a great eye.

I wandered further around PBase– and found more shots of Việt Nam.  On one photo, taken by another artist, Richard had commented that the shot was great, but then he went on to say that it looked like things hadn’t changed much in Việt Nam in the past thirty five years.

My heart cried.  “Oh – you are wrong!  Việt Nam has changed greatly and is continuing to change.  Please, Mr. Calmes – come back to Việt Nam, bring your cameras and your considerable skills, and take another look.  Việt Nam has changed.”

And that’s when I came to the realization that I was guilty of perpetuating the idea that Việt Nam has not changed.  I have been posting the cliché pictures – the ones you folks back in North America expect to see. The exotic.  The different.  The slightly strange.

On this blog, you see pictures of little old women wearing conical hats.  Shots of xích lô drivers.  Tourist pix of The Citadel.  Vietnamese food.  Ao dai.  There are stories about schools for street kids, riding motorbikes, duck-herders, or hard-working and diligent students. 

All of this is good – but it also does not represent all of Việt Nam.

This country is changing rapidly.  Very rapidly.  This is the second fastest growing economy in the world.  It is not a “backwards” country.  It is a developing country.  Obviously, there are lots of little old ladies wearing conical hats.  Equally so, there are much evidence of massive change in Việt Nam.

The expatriate chroniclers of life in Hà Noi  and Sài Gòn , such as NoodlePie,  Our Man in Hanoi , Antidote to Burnout, Down and Out in Sài Gòn,  Xe Maybe, and others write about this rapid change in the two big cities.  Huê is neither Hà Nội nor Sài Gòn – it is a third tier city of 300,000 - - yet change is happening here.

Grant me a bit of license here.  In the picture, the incense sticks are traditional Việt Nam.  The satellite dish is the emerging Việt Nam.  They are both part of the same country – the same people – the same culture.  The Vietnamese are trying to figure out how to blend the old with the new.  If history proves to be an accurate indicator of the future, Việt Nam will figure out how to be both old and new in a distinctly Vietnamese way.

All this being said. I am starting a new category with this post – Việt Nam in Transition.

Comments

[Triet]

Very true, however, I feel the growth is like the story of the wise man that built his house upon the sand. When the rains came, it washed away.

Vietnam has done so well overcoming the huge blunders of the late '70's and 80s (At that time, the government changed currency twice, etc.). However, economic growth during the doi moi has come so fast that Vietnam has not had the time to build infrastructure.

Yes, (to reference your last post) the xich lo drivers are being replaced by xe om drivers, but soon the motorbikes will be replaced by cheap used cars and Vietnam's roads are not built to hold them. A short wait, 1 year, 2 years, and Vietnam would be so much the better.

I don't know how long it will take for this to reach Hue, but I dread May 1, when used cars enter Vietnam's markets. Sometimes, you can have too much of a good thing, or in other words, a good thing at an inopportune time.

[omih]

Agreed about cars. Vietnam needs to be very bold about banning them from as many parts of the cities as possible. Cars in Hanoi's Old Quarter is unthinkable.

The strange thing is that while motorbikes appear to fill the roads they actually work as a method of transport. There are rarely traffic jams, things keep ebbing along.

Doug, I am as guilty as you of perpetuating the myth. I tend to choose very traditonal looking shots. It's a great idea for a photo collection though. Perhaps we could involve all flickr using bloggers and pool our pics and all link to it. What do you think? Let me know and I'll round up some other bloggers.

Here's a couple that I think fit the remit for starters:

http://static.flickr.com/21/34710169_fd3d6fe6b5_b.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/41/83698468_cb0c2d18b7_o.jpg

Both of them are more about modern youth than anything else but they do show the change in the culture.

[omih]

Nearly forgot to say. Love that pic above. Great stuff.

[Triet]

What a great idea about the pics. I love the first one of the girls sitting outside Uncle Ho's mauseleum. That is Vietnam today.

How do you pool pics on flickr?

Also, about Hanoi, I read in the Vietnam Daily News that there are 157,000 registered cars in Hanoi already, and only 7000 parking spots. Parking goes for 5000-7000 VND depending on the size of the car. Once used cars hit, and prices drop, say goodbye to sanity in the Old Quarter...

[Triet]

I looked into photo groups on flickr. There are many that deal with Vietnam. all you have to do is log in and search groups for "vietnam." Here are some large ones I found:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/vietnam/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/44124468667@N01/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/vietnam_images/

[omih]

Okay...I might not have a chance to sort this before the weekend but I'll try and set up a flickr pool and contact bloggers to see if they want to add their own.

Anyone who doesn't have access to flickr can forward them to me.

[Emma]

Doug,

It's funny but other countries have very old cultures and have steadily modernised over the years. The thing that is so unusual about Vietnam is the SPEED of change. Unlike so many western countries, modernity hasn't *crept up* on Vietnam. There haven't been slow stages of change. It's far more "all or nothing" than we are used to.

Your photo encapsulates that conflict AND harmony so perfectly! It's just SO right!

I think it is very interesting - and a great testament to Vietnamese people - that the new AND old things are so embraced. I do wonder what will happen in future, whether the young will discard the old traditions, or decide to keep them AS WELL AS their new accroutements of modern life. It does seem to me that many young people (students, esp.) are very proud of their history and culture. I think a lot will be maintained. I predict that Vietnam will be a VERY progressive, cultured and interesting place to live in the not-so-far future. (Not that it isn't now, but much more so).

I don't know about you, but we find it so hard to explain to people what Vietnam is like - the extremes and conflicting information are beyond anything we have experienced. This is a classic example!

Emma

[Tom Murray]

The old and new are mixing well in Vietnam, at least for now. During my month visit last summer I distinctly remember and older man working on a city block big hotel project. I don't remember the chain (Hyatt or Marriott), but I do remember the man and his hand made bamboo ladder walking around doing work on the mega highrise site. It seemed so unusual with the old and new working so closely together.

The ladies sold their lunch items on the sidewalks as security men made sure they didn't get to close. If this hotel is open this summer on my visit I doubt the security will allow the ladies to get as close as last summer.

The other dicotomy was the very large billboards advertising snack foods, when most of the western world is trying to avoid foods with preservatives or "junk foods". We trying to sell fruit and vegetables to our kids. Now Vietnam entrepeneurs are trying to sell junk food to their kids.

When all is done I'm sure we all hope that the great traditions of the Vietnamese are way to strong to be influenced by modernization.

We can always hope.

Tom Murray

[The Hoppy Mailman]

Must admit, I'm doing a little catching up on blog reading. Great pictures and excellent articles as well. You really do jump into it all unabashed. Soak it up Bro and enjoy every moment.

[Thuy]

That's what I love about Vietnam - the old and the new. You can be out in the countryside and see this bare minimum house (and it looks primitive to some of us in the US) and you will see a satelite dish on the roof and a big screen TV in the house. I know Vietnam is changing FAST. I hope they are learning from China's mistakes and preserves some of the things that are important to their country.
Also, I heard that cars are taxed heavily in order to control it.

[Doug]

Its not good news on the cars. On May 1st, it will be legal to sell used cars as a business. PLus - - this year, the tax on autos dropped from 100% of value to 80%.

[Josh]

Lots of people (including many Vietnamese) love to celebrate the "ancient" and traditional side of Vietnam even when it is no longer purely accurate in capturing today's spirit. It is WHY Vietnam is special for them. www.steinhauerphotography.com for example. A problem with such coverage is that it -- like everything else -- gets old, esp. as one starts to move below the country's veneer (just like anywhere else I suppose). Then comes the challenge...

Whoops -- (just reread that post) I meant to put steinhauerphotography out there as an example of photographing old Vietnam in a fresh and distinguished way! When writing what I did I was thinking of my own efforts and subsequent frustration...