Photo Gallery: In the Land of the Blue Dragon

These photos were shot on my 1970 Fujica Compact 35 using Ilford Pan 100.

While I'm not quite done sharing my experiences from Laos last month, I have been back in Bangkok for a week now, and took a roll of Ilford Pan 100 in for processing. I thought I would start October off with a couple of Photo Gallery posts, where I share the lo-fi analogue photos that I take on the trusty 50 year-old camera that I carry on my adventures. The photos aren't always that great - and maybe that's the point. I like to share them, good and bad, as a way to keep myself accountable on my journey to be a better and more mindful film photographer. Shooting on film, especially on an old and delightfully unpredictable camera, also allows me to revisit my journeys, even months later.

Let's go back in time to May, when I quit my job in Thailand and moved off to begin a new adventure in Vietnam, the Land of the Blue Dragon...

Tonkin - Hanoi and the North of Vietnam

Prayer Flags flying from the balcony of a small house temple in Hanoi

The journey begins in the land of Tonkin, the northern region of Vietnam, in the grandly decaying old of Hanoi, where Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist temples cram every corner. The photos in the gallery aim to show the spiritual side of the thousand year-old city.

the gates of a Taoist temple near West Lake

Most of the temples in the north of Vietnam were Taoist, or occasionally Confucian. As we ventured further south and away from the Chinese border, Buddhism gradually became more prevalent. One of the grandest and most beautiful Buddhist temples that we visited, however, was in Hanoi - the Tran Quoc Pagoda on the shores of West Lake.

Trấn Quốc Pagoda  - Hanoi's oldest Buddhist temple

Here, a hexagonal stone pagoda points up to the heavens, rising high above the surrounding lakeside. A white stone Buddha sits serenely in a niche on every facet and level of the ancient pagoda.

a tall Buddhist pagoda

While some of my photos turned out to be a bit blurry - this one focused on the lotus features rather than the Buddha statue - I'm quite pleased with the way they turned out. I think the photos captured a feel of some ancient spirituality.

the Buddha between two lotus flowers

Approaching the temple, hundreds of Buddhist prayer flags snapped in the breeze overhead. When this scene is viewed in color, you can almost hear the noise and see the vibrancy of this popular temple. In black and white, however, the scene seems still, lonely, and serene.

Buddhist prayer flags

Choosing monochrome emphasizes the timelessness and peace of Eastern spirituality... or maybe that's just me being pretentious about my photography! Either way, when it comes to shooting film, I always like taking photos of exotic places in black and white. It make the photos feel as if they could have been taken a hundred years ago. This scene may well have looked quite the same back then.

the gates to a Buddhist temple

This small Taoist shrine sits on a tiny island in the middle of West Lake, almost forgotten. The grounds were quiet and empty, a lone spiral of incense sending a twisting blue plume of smoke heavenward.

a small shrine on the lake

I didn't end up taking any photos of Hanoi itself - the pictures on this roll of  film were all from temples and shrines in the city.

Annam - Hue and the Imperial Heart of Vietnam

Moving south from Hanoi, we arrived in Hue, the heart of the historic region known as Annam. Hue was once the ancient imperial capital and seat of power for the ruling Nguyen dynasty up until the turbulent years between independence from France and the rise of the Communist party in the north.

The Nguyen Family Shrine - the ashes of the Nguyen emperors are enshrined here

I carried my camera to the Forbidden Purple City, the imperial capital and a citadel-within-a-citadel in the city of Hue. Due to its ancient imperial past, as its position as the location of the DMZ and the heaviest fighting in the Vietnam War, Hue is believed by many locals to be the most haunted place in all of Vietnam.

the nine dynastic urns of Vietnam

It's a beautiful city, but there is a pervasive feeling of sadness when you wander through the Forbidden Purple City. At moments, you can almost feel yourself slipping away back into the past, to a time of wealth, splendor, and a Chinese-style heavenly-divined Imperial authority.

a lotus pond at the palace

The Nguyen Dynasty, the last dynasty of Imperial Vietnam, was plagued by trouble from all fronts. After finally making concessions to become a French protectorate, the emperors lost most of their power. After independence, the emperors were never able to truly regain their authority. With the rise of Communism and the fall of the short-lived unified State of Vietnam, the last emperor was forced to abdicate to the communist forces of Ho Chi Minh.

the grounds of the imperial palace in Hue

Today, the palace feels very much like a temple. That's very intentional. Imperial authority was considered to be spiritually divined and ordained by Heaven.

the residences of the Hue emperors

While a few imperial residences still stand and are open to visitors, it feels like the majority of buildings standing today inside the citadel are religious in nature. Sadly, many of the original buildings were destroyed during the war.

imperial architecture in Hue, Vietnam

Coming soon: another roll of black and whit film containing photos from Laos!