Photographer/Writer: Henrik Korpi
20 years after my first encounter with Ho Chi Minh I was about to go back and very curious to see how it might have changed. Back then, tourism was yet to boom and I remember walking around town with the sense that this was the beginning of a new era for Vietnam.
20 years on: Yes, HCMC is still as mad as it gets! But in order to find true photogenic moments you have to work it – hard. Getting up even before dawn is pretty much standard procedure if you want to nail those special moments and beat the frenetic motorbike traffic before it completely blocks your way – and it will.
Admittedly, I do have a soft spot for the aesthetic mixture of old communist symbolism and French colonialism, but leaving the politics aside; HCMC is simply wicked-for a few days. Then you’ll need to get the hell out in order to stay sane.
I didn’t once use flash, there was no need even in compromised light situations. With minimal setup and with my small (sort of) Leica it seemed people barely noticed my presence.
A brief summary of dubious highlights on my recent trip to HCMC:
- I ‘charmed’ my way into the acrobatic rehearsals at the Saigon Opera House.
- Paid off a night guard to let me onto the rooftop of the former US Embassy where that iconic shot of the US Military helicopter who evacuated the CIA staff in the last hours prior to Viet Cong invaded HCMC
- Swerved off seedy offers in Cho Lon at breakfast time!
- Sneaked in and peeped through the keyhole of Room 214 of the Hotel Continental, where long-term guest Graham Greene conceived his great work “The Quiet American.”
- Believe me when I say that HCMC more than delivers.