The Hmong - a journey by way of portraits

[gary]

The word 'Hmong' describes an ethnic group of peoples who live in the
North-West of Vietnam, parts of the south of China and in the eastern
parts of Laos.

The following series of posts in this thread contain portraits I photographed
in and around the towns of Sapa and Bac Ha in North-West Vietnam, not
far from the Chinese Frontier (see attached map courtesy of Google Earth).
Much of this beautiful region is green, lush and mountainous, with fog, mist and
rain not being uncommon.

The Hmong women are often adorned in colorful clothing and head-wear.
The Red Hmong, Black Hmong and Flower Hmong are distinguished
by the colors and style of garments they wear.

I hope you enjoy these pictures of these colorful and friendly people as
much as I enjoyed photographing them.

All shots taken with a Canon 400D.

Best regards

Gary
Mt. Kuring-Gai NSW

[gary]

Women

[gary]

Women

[gary]

Women and head wear

[gary]

Hmong women

[gary]

Women and girls

[gary]

Women with their infants

[astroron]

Thanks Gary,some very colourful clothes and interesting faces full of character.
You must have had some interesting experiences taking the photo's:):):)

[gary]

Men

[gary]

Men at Bac Ha

[gary]

Why the long face?

[gary]

The market place

[gary]

Changing times ...

[Octane]

Gary,

What a fascinating study. There's a somewhat otherworldly feeling to all the images. Quite surreal.

Thank you for sharing some beautiful photographs with us.

Regards,
Humayun

[BerrieK]

Thankyou Gary for sharing this interesting series of photos with us.

The colours are rich; the faces and surrounds beautiful.

[RB]

Gary these images look like they're straight out of National Geographic !!
Colour saturation and detail is superb.

What a wonderful portfolio of everyday life in this region of the world.

[norm]

Great photos Gary. Very vivid images.

In the recent Clint Eastwood movie, Grand Torino, one of the families that centre around the plot are Hmongs. Good movie too ;)!

[rogerg]

Interesting photo's, some nice portraits there. Lots of colour and good image quality. Was there a particular lens you were using for the portraits? It looks like maybe an F/4?

Roger.

[gary]

Thanks Ron. It is a very interesting part of the world to visit, the people are
friendly and one of those places that you know that if you go exploring there will
always be something surprising to see. :thumbsup:

Some of the types of food you see available on offer are not for the faint of heart.




Thanks Humayun,

By showing a sizable number of portraits together I hoped that it would
help heighten the sense of the color, diversity and dynamic of the place.

I guess you only have to look at the misty hills in a couple of the
shots taken at the horse market to see the place indeed has that
"back of beyond", "otherworld" feel about it.

Undoubtedly environment plays an important part in the development
of cultures and customs and the hills, mountains and relative isolation
of this corner of the world from much of the rest has helped give rise
and still preserve these people's culture.



Thank you!

Can you imagine how much effort they must put into making those garments! :)

They are very friendly people and it is a stimulating place to visit.



Thanks Andrew!

That is most flattering and I appreciate it. If the subjects were paid extras
on a big budget movie set, I would hate to see the bill from the wardrobe
department. :lol: Luckily for the visitor, the spectacle comes free courtesy
of these fascinating people. :thumbsup:



Thanks Norm!

I appreciate you writing and your kind comments.

Though Gran Torino has definitely been one on my list of movies I would like to
see I had not realised that some of the key characters are Hmong. So
I appreciate you telling me that.

As you are probably aware, the CIA had recruited many Hmong on the
Laos side of the border during the war to act as guerrillas to combat the NVA.
This became known as "The Secret War". After the fall of Saigon, Laos
also became communist and those Hmong and their families who had worked
for the Americans ended up being on 'the wrong side'. Problems as a result
of this historical legacy continue to this present day.



Thanks Roger. When I see one of your photo posts, I always know we
are in for something good!

The zoom lens was a generic Canon EF 75mm-300mm f/4 to f/5.6.

Best Regards

Gary