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Conical hat making /08/


Conical hat making /08/
Photo Information
Copyright: Thanh Nguyen (ngythanh) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 503 W: 139 N: 2297] (8356)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-03-08
Categories: Daily Life
Camera: Canon EOS 20D, Canon EF 16-35mm F/2.8L-USM, SanDisk Ultra II 2Gg
Exposure: f/9.0, 1/125 seconds
Details: (Fill) Flash: Yes
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Vietnamese CONICAL HAT [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-09-08 0:50
Viewed: 1043
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 4
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
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The nón making process is practiced here from “b to z”. They don’t do the “a” — the first phase of gathering palm leaves (lá lụi) from certain areas in tropical jungle which are hundreds of kilometers away. They buy such leaves from ThuaThien-Hue, Quang Binh, Ha Tinh or Thanh Hoa province.

You are now viewing the real “portrait” of young palm leave that Vietnamese people use to make conical hat. In the next few days, I will offer the professional process of burning and drying to turn the fresh leaves into the dry material for hat-makers.



According to Thu Huong Nguyen Thi of Hue University, Vietnam, it should be deficient if we talk about Vietnamese culture without mentioning the conical hat.

Together with the charming Ao dai, the conical hat used to be considered as an authentic criterion, a symbol of beauty, and a part of national cultural spirit. Vietnamese conical hat is diversified and various. It is one of the unique features to make Vietnamese culture a rich and colorful one. Conical hat is not only a multi-purposed object but also promotes the charm and elegance of Vietnamese girls. It is also a mirror to reflect the conditions and positions of its owner in the society. Vietnamese conical hat is various in materials, in shape, in name or in the reflection of social backgrounds. Besides the function as a shelter to protect people from the sun, wind and rain, the conical hat also reflects the social classification. In everyday life, conical hat is an indispensable object. Because of its popularity and convenience, the conical hat is used for different purposes. It can be used as a shelter from the sun and the rain, as a fan, or even as a water dipper. Another function of the conical hat that should not be missed is that it makes Vietnamese girls becomes milder, more elegant and delicate. In different situations such as ceremonies, festivals, parties or in working conditions, the conical hat has different equivalent shapes. Because of specific characteristics in geography, culture and traditional custom, each region in Vietnam has its own unique conical hat going with different costume. Moreover, in modern time, the people's needs are different than those in the past, thus, the conical hat does not remain its inherent elegance and purity but greatly changes. The fact that this cultural beauty should be restored and preserved is an urgent issue, and it requires not only the responsibility of the governments of all levels, but also the awareness of Vietnamese people. (Source)


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To tsti003: Thanks for your kindnessngythanh 1 09-08 05:16
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Thanh Nguyen

Wow, what a portrait, it has interest, simplicity, texture and balance.

I love the way that you have used all those monochromatic greens and along with those strong diagonals. They seem to lead my eye into the picture and help create more effective photograph.

TS

  • Great 
  • TRASH Gold Star Critiquer [C: 199 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2007-09-08 10:02]

To most people, this picture is nothing or nonsense.
To me as a former hat maker, I could not hold my tears when looking at them and recalling the immediately years after the South Vietnam fell when I had to give up college and survive with this "career".
The process would take almost a full day to complete just one hat, and the income has dropped my family down to the living condition of animal — not human beings. Before passing away, my father used to say "we've got a retaliation from the northerners, not a liberation yet, for our crime of being born and lived in the south side of 17th parallel of latitude."
TFS,

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