A Candid Conversation with Thomas Ngô

Thomas Ngô (Columbia College ‘22) is a second-year student from El Monte, California. Below, Thomas discusses his photography and creative process with us via a collection of photographs taken during a visit to Southeast Asia with his family this summer.

Interview conducted and transcribed by Như Đoàn (Columbia Engineering ‘20).

“livin’ my best life in the motherland”

N: Hey Thomas! Let’s just start off with you telling us a bit about yourself?

T: Hey Nhu, I’m a second year in CC majoring in Psychology. Asides from being interested in photography, I’m also a radio host for wbar radio at Barnard and a board member for the Vietnamese Students Association.

N: Do you want to tell us about your ethnic background?

T: My dad is from Cambodia and my mom is from Vietnam. If you want to be more specific though, we’re Teochew Chinese. However, since we’re 3 or 4 generations removed and we no longer have family in China, I identify as Vietnamese American. But at home we still speak Teochew Chinese.

N: That’s awesome, I know very few people that speak Teochew. Do you also speak Vietnamese?

T: Kind of, if you force me to I’ll try my best.

N: Alright, guess we’re doing the rest of the interview in Vietnamese then! I’m joking…haha…unless?

T: I —

N: Okay but let’s actually move on. You submitted a good number of photos, where were most of these taken?

T: So some of these are from Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia, especially the temple-ish looking ones that don’t look very “Vietnamese.” The rest though are from Sóc Trăng and other places in Vietnam like Hạ Long [Bay].

Thomas’ dad in front of his childhood home in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This photo marks the first time his dad has returned since fleeing Cambodia one year before rise of the Khmer Rouge in 1975.

N: I love this photo of your dad in a Columbia shirt!

T: That’s his childhood home. When he was 17, he left this home and fled to Việt Nam. At the time, a year before the Khmer Rouge came into power, my grandpa feared the regime and sensed that they needed to flee right away.

This summer was the first time he’s been back since 1975.

N: The Khmer Rouge came into power in 1975 right? So your father left right before the start of the Khmer Rouge and right after the end of the Việt Nam War. Kind of perfect timing on both ends. What was it like for him coming back?

T: I think he was pretty neutral on the outside, he mainly just commented on how things still look the same. But on the inside, I’m sure he was reminiscing a lot and thinking about his childhood. He experienced a good amount of culture shock too, even though Cambodia is relatively developed compared to other South East Asian countries; he’s too used to the luxurious American life style at this point.

Maybe taken on a Nikon D3500, but also maybe taken on an iPhone.

N: Right, I should probably ask you what camera you use now?

T: I photograph on a Nikon D3500, but half of these photos are iPhone photos. They’re all edited in Lightroom.

N: Do you have a particular theme or aesthetic in mind when you edit photos?

T: I like warmer photos, so I normally bump up the the orange or yellow in my highlights. It creates a nice color tone. I also like green shadows. Lastly, I like adding grain so that the photos look vintage. Take this photo taken in Hạ Long, I added an orange/yellow highlight to the sky and bumped up the green in the bottom shadows to bring out the vibrancy in the vegetation.

Taken in Sóc Trăng, his mother’s hometown (and later his father’s, after fleeing from Cambodia).

N: And what about this photo here? What edits have you made?

T: This photo was taken in Sóc Trăng, my mother’s hometown. I bumped up the yellow highlights on the side of the road where the sun is hitting. Also, you can’t really see it, but I ever slightly bumped up the green where the shadows are on the right.

N: Hmm, I can’t see the green, but I believe you. I really like this common theme throughout all your photos.

T: In general I find this warm aesthetic appropriate, especially considering the place.

Gas? Gas.

N: I like it a lot too! Is there any specific photo you want to talk to us in-depth about? Wait, I’m getting distracted by this photo of food. What is this?

T: Oh yeah! That’s Indonesian curry from a place down the street from my aunt’s house in Sóc Trăng. I was craving it and I had to order in Vietnamese…I struggled but it was fine in the end.

N: Dude it was probably super cheap.

T: Yeah it was like 40000 đồng, so around $2.

Like the Hometown episode in The Bachelor.

N: Alright sorry about that, so back to the photo you wanted to talk to us in-depth about.

T: No worries. I want to show you a photo of me in front of my mom’s elementary school. It’s a Vietnamese school but it’s administered by Teochew Chinese.

N: Right, that’s why there are Chinese characters at the very top of the building but the rest of the signs are in Vietnamese!

T: Mhm. My mom’s older brother’s son (so my cousin) is a teacher at this school. It’s interesting to consider how this school is still a part of the family even though none of us technically are students there anymore. I convinced my cousin to drive me here on his moped to take a slight look around.

N: When you say “a part of the family” do you mean on your mom’s side or your dad’s side?

T: Both! There’s a large population of Teochew Chinese in Sóc Trăng, and both sides of my family reside there. My dad’s youngest sister lives two blocks away from my mom’s oldest brother, even though these two families never met in Việt Nam (since they met here, in America). Both families sent their children to this school; it runs on both sides of my family and they didn’t even know.

Sài Gòn (now Ho Chi Minh City), just a few hours North of Sóc Trăng.

N: Side note, I’m really impressed by this photo. I know it can be really hard to photograph moving objects without getting the blur.

T: Yeah I’m so proud of this! I was walking around when I saw this landscape, and I only wanted to capture the river in the background, but then this lady came into the foreground at the perfect moment. She rode by, and in that moment I was like, Perfect! She’s in the bottom third of the photo too.

N: Do you have something specific you look for before taking a photo?

T: Not really, but I do try my best to not take photos where people are posing. Most of my photographs are candid, and I just try to capture moments I find special; it’s a process that’s different for everyone.

We’re reaching unprecedented levels of resourcefulness here.

T: This moment was special to me. We were at a temple and the monk had cut open coconuts for us to drink. When he cut it in half, he said I could eat it but I had no idea how to without a spoon. So how do I eat it? I say to the monk.

N: Probably…with your hands?

T: Nope, that’s when he cut off a sliver of the coconut and started shoveling it. Here, use this as the spoon, the monk said. So now, my dad is showing me how to shovel coconut correctly, and I thought it was a pretty cute moment so I took a photo.

N: Alright, I think we have enough material! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me, Thomas, and also thank you for submitting to our zine. I’m so excited to go back to Việt Nam.

T: It’s amazing, but going is pretty expensive so I probably won’t be back until after I graduate. And you’re welcome, Nhu!

This project, unSEAled, is a part of an initiative to bring together and elevate Southeast Asian voices in art. We’re currently submitting submissions through November 1st. If you’re interesting in submitting and having your work published (both online and in our print version), submit here.

We’re so excited for you to share your work with us!