Tet in Hanoi charms photographers
Life changes everyday and there are many differences to today’s traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) festival compared to past Tets. Despite each person’s individual feelings and whatever the changes are, for photographers, Tet will always reflect Hanoian culture.
Photos depicting Tet in Hanoi in the 1990s, taken by photojournalists Steve Raymer and Nevada Wier, have become rare today.
Through these, Hanoians were featured simple and unpretentious and Hanoians’ Tet was compared to a flavour that can be tasted and smelt. That was the taste of bánh chưng (square cake), pickled onions and the smell of the first spring day of the first lunar month.
After a decade, Tet in Hanoi has changed through photographers’ eyes. The flavour of the old days remains, but the streets are more crowded.
For photographer Dzungart, Tet in the capital city is a huge topic for him to snap. He has photographed the festival for many years, and regrets the changes he sees.
He said Hanoi is like a young girl that never gets old with each angle charming photographers. The girl has a new coat imbued with Hanoi ’s identity whenever Tet comes.
Dung said he enjoys Tet in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. Although he was not born in Hanoi he thinks Tet in Hanoi is more interesting and extraordinary than in other places because of its uniqueness which can be seen on the roads, and in people’s looks and gestures.
Nguyen Tan Vinh, an amateur photographer, is still discovering new angles of Hanoians with his camera.
Regardless of his old age, he comes to capture beautiful moments in Ho Guom (the Sword Lake) almost every day. It is his indulgence, to contemplate Hanoi through the lens and witness its daily changes.
Artists capture each instant and change in the city. Despite changes, Tet images remain imbued with Hanoi’s culture.