This year must was a monumental messed up for most of us. I had so much trauma when it comes to photograph from making mistakes, judges and doubts. Traveling was the only way I could find to run away from my problem. Eventually, the lockdown happened, I got stuck. When I was still on the road, I took tons of picture but barely look back at any of them. My partner helped me a lot while we were walking through the process of organizing my photos and without her, I would not have the courage to present my works. These might not be considered as epic moments of the year, but they are what I am genuinely attached to.
The Smile of Vietnam
This picture or I can say this moment reminded the reason why I moved to Vietnam. When in doubt, when everyone questioning why am I here, why staying in a deep-southern countryside? That is the smile of Vietnam. It just feels like home, like it is never been like that before. And who know if even this lady is dreaming about the city light of a Lalaland, I just knew that her smile lit up my day.
Pure Happiness
I got a flat tire after driving one and a half hour in a rainy day from Da Lak to Da Lat. Everywhere is closed, I don’t know where to go and the rain kept hammering down. Some kids were playing in front of their wooden house while I tried to talk to them with my broken Vietnamese. And before I knew, the whole ethnic family showed up to tell me come inside. I sat by the fire pit, put my shaking freezing hands right into the fire. And all I know is this moment of pure happiness.
Hope
These kids are bicycling for 10km to school everyday from their village. They’re carrying not just their dreams, but also their parents’ hope for a better future that one day life will work out for them, that their feet won’t have to step on the mud of the rice field.
Cubscout
Every time I see these Honda Super Cub bikes, I can’t help and feel the perseverance of my dad generation. This bike is symbolic in showing how no matter how worn down the appearance is, it’s trucking along to exist and never give up on its people. In a time where Vietnam is alarmingly modernizing, the locals might not even bat an eye as it gets lost in the abyss of the times. But thing like this will always a timepiece to remember where we came from.
Let it go
It was a foggy day in Bien Ho Lake. We sat there gazing through the lake, as get lost in my thoughts while the sounds of reflection bounced back from the flow of the water. Wendy suddenly talked to the air: “You see that, when thing got rotten, don’t chain it, just let it go”
The season will change
That was a year of struggling in Pleiku. The rain was just nonstop pouring on this red soil highland for a whole month. As I couldn’t go outside, I started to lose track of day and time. Suddenly peach flowers blooming, I realized spring just came, for the people of Pleiku, and for me.
