On the shoulder, a photo from Ho Chi Minh, South East

Photographer's Note

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The most popular mean of transportation in Vietnam is having the load on shoulder. Of course there are luxury cars and SUVs as in other rich country but vehicles are owned by government officials and their relatives or in business-relation.

In the background is "GIVRAL Cafe-Restaurant" at 169 Dong Khoi St. where Pham Xuan An had once his office, as well described in the non-fiction book Perfect Spy by Larry Berman.

If you want to read the book in Vietnamese, here is the link: Điệp Viên Hoàn Hảo.

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Davids, nicol_g has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Davids (56) 2007-10-02 2:43

Thanh,
An interesting photo, and I like your note.
I get the feeling that somehow the photo need a slight rotation. Before I read your note I also thought that the person would have been better if there would have been more contrast between modern and old.
From your note I understand why you used this POV, well documented :)

I use the full range of smilies, I hope you don't mind. The color of the smiley is a reflection of all aspects of the photo, nothing personal :)

nicol_g (859) 2007-10-02 15:02

The 'shoulder way of transportation' is familiar to me from some of your previous pictures, but the other aspect of your story (Pham Xuan An) 'met my ear' for the first time - and what a story, Thanh!
A request: what's the meaning of the phrase "Van Minh, Vo Nguoi" ? Thank you.

I agree with David about the slight rotation of the image -about 2 degrees to the left would look just fine to me (I tried it). Other than that, I like the picture.
Kind regards.