23

My recent assignment to Vietnam afforded me the wonderful opportunity to spend a week walking the streets and observing and capturing daily life in the nation's two major cities, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and Hanoi.

Defined by Wikipedia as "a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places... [and] often concentrates on a single human moment, caught at a decisive or poignant moment... giving the audience a more visceral experience of walks of life they might only be passingly familiar with", street photography is one of my favourite genres of picture making.

From left, I made this collection of six images at (1) Chua Thien Hau Temple, HCMC, (2) Tao Dan Park, HCMC, (3) Old Quarter, Hanoi, (4) Old Quarter, Hanoi, (5) Cho Thu Thiem, HCMC and (6) Old Quarter, Hanoi.

Like the Choose Your Own Adventure books I used to read in my childhood, I love the unknown element of street photography.  Literally and creatively, I can go one direction and discover a remarkable photographic opportunity; or I can go another direction and find something entirely different.  Either way, I never know what I missed.  It is this adventure that is the beauty of street photography (and, truly, all photography) for me.