{"id":19506,"date":"2014-07-20T09:32:36","date_gmt":"2014-07-20T16:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=19506"},"modified":"2014-07-20T10:05:27","modified_gmt":"2014-07-20T17:05:27","slug":"saigon-diary-6-trip-to-pulau-bidong-switching-to-black-white-thoughts-on-digital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/20\/saigon-diary-6-trip-to-pulau-bidong-switching-to-black-white-thoughts-on-digital\/","title":{"rendered":"Saigon Diary #6: Trip to Pulau Bidong, Switching to Black & White, Thoughts on Digital"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DSCF9791\"<\/p>\n

Sorry guys, it has been a while since I last updated my “Saigon Diary<\/a>” series. A lot has happened since the last time we talked. During that time, I taught a week-long Saigon street photography workshop, I traveled to Malaysia and visited Pulau Bidong (a refugee camp where Cindy was born). I also took a week-long trip to Singapore, where I did a free talk for Fujifilm Singapore, did a 3-day weekend workshop, and now I am back home.<\/p>\n

I am only in Saigon for another week and a half, then Cindy and I are heading to Hanoi for a weekend. Then after that, we are traveling to Seoul and Tokyo (teaching an intro workshop in Tokyo<\/a>), then Cindy is heading home. After Cindy heads home, I’m teaching a workshop in Hong Kong<\/a> with Gary Tyson, then teaching a workshop in\u00c2\u00a0Sydney and an intermediate\/advanced workshop in Melbourne<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not sure where I can update you guys– but will try to skip around with my thoughts.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Reunification Palace \/ Saigon<\/h2>\n

During my week-long Saigon workshop, me and the students shot in the reunification palace. I took a series of photos on the top roof (where there is a famous shot of people evacuating Saigon via helicopter, during the ‘fall of Saigon’):<\/p>\n

\"Evacuation
Evacuation of CIA station personnel by Air America on the rooftop of 22 Gia Long Street in Saigon on April 29, 1975.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the roof, here is a series of images I shot:<\/p>\n

\"plane\"<\/p>\n

One technique I use in street photography is looking for an interesting background, and waiting for the right person to step into the shot. They call this the “fishing” technique<\/strong><\/em>. You set up your camera, and wait for your fish (subjects) to enter your image.<\/p>\n

So I saw the helicopter in the background, and nice silhouettes of people entering the scene. I then saw this one boy, and started to photograph him. In the frame outlined, I like the drama of the shot– and the story it suggests. Perhaps the kid is wanting to fly away and leave Vietnam? Perhaps he “missed his flight”? Anyways, I like the idea of keeping the story open-ended, so my viewers can make up their fun little story:<\/p>\n

\"DSCF9790\"<\/p>\n

Trip to Pulau Bidong Island<\/h2>\n

For the last 5 years, Cindy has been trying to revisit Pulau Bidong<\/a>, a refugee camp in Malaysia where she was born.<\/p>\n

During the fall of Saigon, her family fled Vietnam and ended up at Pulau Bidong. They were part of the “boat people” — who faced dangers during their trip such as pirates, disease, and even shipwrecks at sea. Fortunately, Cindy’s family made it safely to the island. Cindy’s mother was pregnant with Cindy during the time.<\/p>\n

My manager and good friend Neil Ta actually was born in the same refugee camp. This is how I actually first met Neil. Cindy was searching how to visit the island, and came across Neil’s blog post on visiting Pulau Bidong<\/a>. He gave her lots of tips on how to visit the camp, and eventually I got connected to Neil (the power of Facebook).<\/p>\n

Anyways fast-forward, and through Cindy’s contacts we were able to meet\u00c2\u00a0Anuar Ngah<\/a>, a local tour guide who took us there. In-fact, he made a documentary of the whole thing, you can watch it below:<\/p>\n