A summer in Vietnam
"A picture is worth a thousand words."
That one phrase echoed throughout the back of my mind as I sat in the cramped window seat absorbing the vibrantly green and tropic landscape that was slowly passing below me. I had only one goal in mind and a whole summer to reach it.
I am a firm believer that any great photographer can tell a story with an image. The power of a photo is that it captures a singular moment in time, shows a perspective in an adventure or narrative, and preserves it for others to see...
The moment I landed, my adventure began. From Hanoi to Da Nang, I got to learn new facts on Vietnamese history and experienced many new aspects of people, food, and culture that were unfamiliar to me. However, there was one thing that my family and I set out to do.
Having seen videos of people being taken on tours in "coconut boats" along a river near Hoi An, my family had wanted to experience the fun for themselves. However, we were unable to locate the site of the business that offered such tours due to the roads being recently reconstructed, renovated, and partitioned.
Determined to make our plans, we found our way to the riverside by walking through a shanty town constructed of sheet metal and rotting wood, and it was then when I had locked eyes with a woman sitting on her porch swatting away flies from her two children.
With wrinkles that defined her age and told her toils, she looked at me with dull and dreary eyes. I was lost — both geographically and in the moment. The gravity and allure of her eyes and her situation almost seemed to draw me in around her orbit. I began to feel the situation and desperation.
I inquired as to where we could find the company that hosted the boat tours, but the woman offered to take on the exact same tour but for less. Admittedly, I was somewhat skeptical and a bit hesitant, but nevertheless, I still took up her offer. And in that moment that I stepped inside her boat, the mood had changed and the hesitation has faded.
Those dull and dreary eyes instantly lit up with a youthful flare indescribable of her age and she began to burst into song, clapping to her own cadence. I noticed that the wrinkles on her face had suddenly become molded into by the shape of her squinted eyes and heart-lifting smile. Those untold toils buried in the folds of her face suddenly became re-expressed as the fruition of her labors.
Instinctively, I pulled out my camera and with a quick snap, I captured one of the most memorable moments of my trip to Vietnam. It might not be perfect, but I think the photo is still able to really convey the emotions that not only the old lady felt, but also what I felt in that moment.
What I hope to do in the future is to capture moments in the endless stream of time and leave behind a reminder of the stories I've learned, the people I've met, and the connections I've formed.
“The power of a photo is that it captures a singular moment in time, shows a perspective in an adventure or narrative, and preserves it for others to see.”
In the end, we gave her more than we would have paid for a boat ride at the tour company, but I know for a fact that my money that day was well spent.
Iconic moments in my life like these remind me of why I love to travel and I hope it inspires others to do the same.
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