Ehrin Macksey: Hanoi, Calm After The Storm

As my readers know, I was in Hanoi about two weeks ago, and one of my favorite street photography haunts was the Hoan Kiem district, especially in the streets where vendors sold toys, lanterns, masks, and other gaudy decorations in anticipation of the mid-Autumn festival in early October.  The crowds were simply overwhelming in the late evening when young people congregated there to have fun.

Ehrin Macksey, a photojournalist/photographer and filmaker living in Hanoi, decided to photograph the streets of Hanoi the first morning of Tet, another huge festival in Vietnam...after the chaos and bustle at the end of each January or beginning of February that characterize the period leading to Tet.

As you'll see from Ehrin's video of his stills, the calm that replaces the preceding chaos is eerie. He describes Hanoi as being in a Valium induced state. The streets are empty and one can hear birds clearly while walking down some of the larger streets in the city like Dai Co Viet.

I recommend a visit to Ehrin Macksey's website; especially his South East Asia Travel Photography gallery...a lot of gems!