in Vietnam

French Illustrated Encyclopedia Paints the Slices of Vietnam Life in the 1900s

"To effectively govern colonial peoples, the foremost requirement is a thorough understanding of the very people one rules over," so believed Paul Doumer, the second Governor-General of French Indochina, who spent his career imposing the imperial French government's agenda on studying the culture of their colonized subjects.

in Saigon

Portrait of a Jubilant Saigon on the Precipice of Tết in 1992

Tết in 1992 was an especially fortuitous time to be a foreign arrival to Saigon. 

in Vietnam

In 1992 Vietnam, the Streets Were Brimming With Love and Life

How has your life been transformed in the past 30 years? Changes might materialize overnight, but some tend to creep up on you at a glacial pace. Through this collection of images from 1992, mull over how Vietnam as a country has grown with every 12-month cycle.

in Vietnam

Vintage French Book Illustrations Depict a Quaint Indochina in 1903

In this rare collection of images from 1903 Indochina, life in the peninsula appears as if in a dream, with rows of colonial-style houses in between heritage trees and natural landscapes that weren’t interrupted by concrete.

Paul Christiansen

in Saigon

Did You Know That There's a Mummy on Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm Boulevard?

Why is there a mummy on display in Saigon?

Brian Letwin

in Heritage

Tàu Cánh Ngầm: The Curious Case of Saigon’s Lost Soviet Hydrofoils

Not long ago, hulking “creatures” glided atop the waters between Saigon and Vũng Tàu. Like the dinosaurs that came before them, they slowly disappeared, until all that was left were their skeletons.

in Saigon

Relive Your Memories of Saigon Water Park via These Photos by One of Its Makers

Although water parks involve a combination of two of the most tedious human experiences, standing in lines and prolonged direct sun exposure, the now-demolished Saigon Water Park was an icon of 2000s Saigon that remains a crucial cornerstone of many city dwellers' memories.

in Vietnam

The Vintage Charm of 1995 Vietnam on Kodachrome Film Slides

While editing a retrospective of my recent work from Vietnam in the summer of 2019, I discovered 50 yellow boxes of Kodachrome slides in my basement that were shot in 1995. The images were from my first trip to Vietnam.

Back Heritage

in Vietnam

[Photos] Black-and-White Shots Depict Quotidian Details of 19th-Century Vietnam

These black-and-white shots are among the highest-quality documentation attempts of Vietnam at the end of the 19th century.

in Saigon

[Photos] The Saigon Zoo's Enduring Serenity in the 1970s

Over the years, Saigon has changed as drastically as a flounder undergoing a metamorphosis that transfers its eyes from one side of its face to the other. 

in Vietnam

[Photos] The Maritime Idyll of 1965 Phan Thiet

Before it became a weekend destination for workweek-weary Saigoneers, Phan Thiet was an austere fishing town.

in Asia

[Photos] An Idyllic Slice of 1957 Cambodian Life

Vietnam isn't the only country in the region to change dramatically over the last several decades.

in Vietnam

[Photos] The Small-Town Charm of Vung Tau in the 1960s

From remembering fond memories with loved ones to selling products and even gaining clues to a grisly crime, photos have many uses.

in Vietnam

[Photos] Views of 1993 Vietnam From Behind the Lens of a Past War Orphan

I have been carrying this film around for over a quarter-century from Hanoi to Saigon to Boston and to New York.

in Hanoi

[Photos] Black-and-White Shots of Hanoi Street Scenes From 1940

For thousands of years, streets have served a multitude of purposes.

in Saigon

[Photos] A Collection of Illusory Saigon Nightscapes From 1938

A rare glimpse into colonial Saigon after sunset.

in Saigon

[Photos] 10 Incredible Shots of 1960s Saigon by William Ruzin

It takes seven to ten years for a human body to replace every cell to the point it consists of entirely different atoms.

Linh Pham

in Hanoi

Street Cred: Pháo Đài Láng, Home of Ông Voi and Where the War Began

More often than not, a country’s independence is won with guns. The location where the first shots were fired for Vietnam is memorialized to this day.

in Saigon

[Photos] Exploring Downtown Saigon Via These 10 Snapshots From the 1970s

What are the people in these photos doing today?

in Vietnam

[Photos] 13 Film Snapshots of a Sleepy Vung Tau in 1967

Vung Tau is a fitting name for the coastal town that invites people to pause and stay a while.

in Vietnam

[Photos] Wander Along the Beach in 1967 Nha Trang

We often yearn to visit tourist destinations before they became heavily developed, but what would that actually be like?

in Vietnam

[Photos] From the National Geographic Archive, Slices of Life in 1952 Vietnam

Mostly taken by National Geographic photojournalist Joseph Baylor Roberts, these excellent shots are among the best images of 1952 Vietnam that one can encounter.

in Vietnam

[Photos] The Coastal Life in Nha Trang in a Timewarp

You can practically taste the salty sea breeze and hear the occasional wafting of rock music in these photos of Nha Trang from the late 60s, early 70s.

in Saigon

The Mystical Origins of Saigon's Notorious Octagonal Prison, Khám Chí Hòa

Chi Hoa Prison (Khám Chí Hòa) is a seven-hectare facility located in Saigon's District 10.

in Saigon

[Photos] 12 Snapshots of Downtown Saigon From Over 30 Years Ago

What can travel photos tell us about the places depicted, especially when it’s been decades since the shots were captured?

in Hanoi

[Photos] What Life in Hanoi Was Like in the 1890s

Can you imagine daily life before electricity, light bulbs, plastics, refrigerators, antibiotics, automobiles and telephones?

in Saigon

[Photos] Amble Along the Familiar Streets of District 1 in 1969

Was Saigon more colorful in the past?

in Vietnam

[Photos] Making Sugar at an Early 20th-Century Boiling House in Quang Ngai

Unlike cash crops such as rubber or coffee that were brought in from other parts of the world, sugarcane was among Vietnam’s original native trees, and locals have been growing the sweet plant for cen...