Lunar New Year is over in Vietnam but the festie season is just begun with hundreds of festival occured in the northern Vietnam. Among those, Phet Hien Quan is an intense one.
During the festival, which pays tribute and honors the merit of Thieu Hoa female general combatting Chinese invaders, thousands of young men from villages around Hien Quan commune rush to get the ‘phet’, an wooden ball in the size of an tennis ball, which are believed to bring prosperity to the family and village. The festival simulates the scene when Thieu Hoa general trained her men before joining Hai Ba Trung’s army two thousands year ago.
This mini series is taken out from a bigger project on the Lunar New Year celebration in northern Vietnam.
I’m a bit busy these days since local publications are rushing for the upcoming Lunar New Year plus a couple of exciting editorial assignments expected to be finished in the first quarter of 2016. Otherwise, I just made the very first edit for my experimental project ‘No Mud, No Lotus’ HERE.
At the beginning of December, I got the privilege to join Angkor Photo Festival as a participant of the professional workshop and It was wonderful time making new long-life friends, catching up with old mates and seeing some real good photography of all genres.
During the workshop I made a chilling photo essay on Kompong Phluk, a village of tall stilted houses located within the floodplains of Tonle Sap. During the dry season, many of the villagers move out onto their temporary houses at the lake for fishing leaving their permanent houses soaring their 6-meter stilts exposed by the lack of water. The series takes a look at how how villagers are waiting for the next flooding season.
Thank you very much Suthep Kritsanavarin and Patrick de Noirmont for the instruction and all my friends for the inspirations plus good booze over the week. Cheers to an exciting year ahead to you all!
I was asked by Instagram to share some thoughts on my personal Instagram account recently and you can check out the full feature on Instagram blog HERE.
In case you missed it, I’m on Instagram sharing my daily obsession at @phamhaduylinh and I’m a contributor of @everydayvietnam sharing daily-life moments and stories across Vietnam.
PS: Many thank to Teru Kuwayama for the inspiration over years and Ben Cosgrove for the interview.
Here are a few photos which will be a part of my on-going project on the Vietnamese funeral traditions and after death rituals from my latest time attending a reburial ceremony in the suburb of Hanoi.
More photos from the series can be found HERE.
