Faces of HoiAn

Never before have I ever been so compelled to take photographs of people and faces as I was in Vietnam. For most of the photographs of old people a small tip of about 50 cents was necessary. Some argue (as one bloke we met) that it was wrong to give them money for taking pictures but hey... at the end of the day it is only a token tip and they need to make a living themselves. You take a picture which will give you some satisfaction and they get a meal at the end of the day.

Iman was more than keen to snap away and took these first two pictures.

This is on the main river that passes through Hoi An.

And all along the riverfront in the town these old ladies sit on the pavement selling little crafts or fruit or sit in their small rowing boats hoping to make a dollar or two.

As we all know Vietnam has had a turbulent and violent history and one wonders what these old folk have lived through and what stories they could tell.

Often referred to as the "Smiling Man of HoiAn", this old man sits in his boat all day long and is according to Asian Geographic the most photographed face in Hoi An. Of course this I only read once we got back from our trip and I never took a decent picture!

And this is my favourite picture. The baguettes looked so good and she was a lovely obliging lady. Myself and Iman snapped this on our way back to the hotel just before we left Hoi An.