Another year is in the books, and I think it’s been a pretty good one! Here’s a little (bit long) rundown of some of the different stuff that I got in to this year.
One of my first assignments of the year was a portrait for The New York Times. I’ll go on to do a number of others this year, as you’ll see below
(click to read the article)
Not long after that was another one, looking at fake art in Vietnam.
(click to read the article)
I also started running photo tours much more this year via Saigon School of Imaging, which is my workshops and tours side hustle, if you will. While exploring possible locations one day early in the year, I met this guy, Mr. Tai, who has a pretty wild pet monkey. He’s usually a hoot (both him and the monkey) and is now on of the frequent stops on my tours! I’ve already got a few tours and workshops booked for this week, so come join me sometime this year!
Here are just a few of my other favorite shots from various tours over the year.
Another of my fairly frequent stops. Mrs. Thi holds a picture of herself and her son, taken in 1972 in Hanoi.
Next up in late February was an on location fashion/product shoot for local client Punda Milia, who make high end handbags. We shot on the beach and sand dunes in Mui Ne, and I really loved some of the images we created!
and a few shots for myself while I was there…
In March, I was commissioned for a few editorial shoots by Ink Publishing, one for Etihad Airlines magazine, and one for Tiger Air magazine. You can see more on this blog post, and here a few of my favorite shots
In late March I embarked on a 2 week assignment for The Global Fund in Cambodia and Myanmar. The focus was Malaria treatment and eradication projects. Here are a few photos and a video.
(click to watch the video)
A day or few after returning from the rural countryside of Myanmar, it was time to switch gears completely and shoot 2 weddings back to back, one in Saigon and one in Nha Trang. Here are a few of my favorite shots from each…
The next notable thing I think happened was not an assignment or shoot persay, but having some of my work featured by Photoshelter. They started a series called One Photo, where photographers share one image that means a lot to them and the backstory behind it. I was honored to be included among a few other very notable photojournalists in the industry. Here is my one photo and a little video as well.
Switching gears completely again, as it seems my job does alot, I was in the studio/kitchen to create some images of intricate pastries created by a friend of mine. Here’s just one, and there are more in a blog post here.
In May, I again joined my friend Etienne on a 3 day tour of central Vietnam, a highlight for me every year! Here’s one of my favorite images and a few more in a blog post here We’ll be doing it again March 2nd-4th this year, come join if you can!
A month or two later I was back in the central for a little trip. I think we set out to photograph the salt fields, but the weather didn’t cooperate, so the next best nearby thing was a shipyard, which actually turned out to be more fun I think! Check out more in this post.
Over the summer and fall, the photo editors at The New York Times kept me pretty busy. here are a few images and links from various stories and assignments.
A story on activists in Vietnam
One on business in Vietnam, but tied to a much more interesting story. Give this one a read!
Another portrait assignment in Danang
In September, I had trip to northern Vietnam planned just for me to shoot for myself, and I somehow ended up with 4 perfectly timed assignments while I was there! This was one of my favorites, shooting on a phone. Check out more images and story published on Ignant’s site or more on my blog as well.
And of course a few more for me and my Under Great Northern Skies ongoing personal project
Just as I got back to Saigon from the mountains, it was again a big change of gears, this time to another wedding, which was a blast! Here are a few images from the festivities and more found on this post
And though a little out of order, a video I shot and produced in August for a European clothing company for their Black Friday campaign. And I actually was in Laos just a few weeks ago to make a similar one for another factory, so the edit for that will be coming soon!
And I thought a good way to end it would be a few images from a trip to Korea in December. It was my first time back in about 8 years since I lived there, and was great to catch up with some old friends and students!
So, as you can see 2017 was a pretty busy year, and these were just the highlights! Let’s hope 2018 is even better! Now, back to work first thing tomorrow morning!
