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My World: Vietnam; thru my lens..and his lenses too!

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
p2520069652-4.jpg
 

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
Vietnam's history is one of foreign infused war and destruction. From the Khymer Kingdom back when, to the Northern parts of Vietnam. The Wars between them and the Laotian Kingdoms.North Vietnam Kingdoms versus the Southern parts of that country. And who can forget the Western civilization and haute couture and the great freedoms of man, that you ascribe to the French, brought to the Vietnamese people!

Not forgetting the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution..passed unanimously by the House and Senate ( -2 ). Just like the WMDs. No?

See the results?

Blurred bikes whizzing by and abundance of a single fruit. Remnants of a frightful time, recovered but not healed.

Asher
 

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
As is usual for us, we took the mandatory tours along with hordes of tourists; ' That is the xxxx hotel ', said the tour guide and on and on it goes. I don't walk with tour groups much, if at all. I try to find a shady place in a street side local cafe watching the world go by. And when the group returns along with Ayesha, I get up on the bus and wait to be dropped off at the hotel. I am tired after these tours, from which I gain nothing.But Ayesha gets the lay of the land for later.

2 days of such tours and we headed out on our own. Sometimes together, or as is often the case, each of us goes in different directions. We compare notes later.

I generally avoid photographing at places, where all cameras and/or iPhones are lifted in unison to frame a building or catch a street vendor with a nón lá. I might visit at a different time, if the place merits such.

p2552075902-4.jpg
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Vietnam's history is one of foreign infused war and destruction. From the Khymer Kingdom back when, to the Northern parts of Vietnam. The Wars between them and the Laotian Kingdoms.North Vietnam Kingdoms versus the Southern parts of that country. And who can forget the Western civilization and haute couture and the great freedoms of man, that you ascribe to the French, brought to the Vietnamese people!

Not forgetting the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution..passed unanimously by the House and Senate ( -2 ). Just like the WMDs. No?

See the results?

Fahim,

The problem is "alternative facts" and lack of education and wisdom.

Anyone who was a scholar of British involvement in Afghanistan, would have taken pause in meddling there. Certainly would not be so delusional to make bonds with Pashtuns who would have to hand over their brothers!

Anyone who followed French history might have figured out that supporting one unpopullar corrupt side was a waste of human life and national treasure to bother with Viet Nam domestic power struggles.

Anyone who understood what First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill did in Iraq by introducing poison gas, would know that Imperial Britain cant be trusted.

Essentially, here are the important facts. Americans know little to nothing about geography of the planet, let alone politics and other folks customs and culture! Some influencer recuruits politicians and it becomes a runaway military enterpise with many companies honestly beleiving they are saving the planet from bandits or evil!

The folk making the weapons are often really so ignorant. They think they are procvinding a means to keep the peace!

Asher
 
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Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
...............

I generally avoid photographing at places, where all cameras and/or iPhones are lifted in unison to frame a building or catch a street vendor with a nón lá. I might visit at a different time, if the place merits such.

p2552075902-4.jpg


This is a more satisfactory subject to photograph. Actually I get pretty bored going to one Cathedral after another and not being given time to get to see the grit behind the glitter, as that is where real folk live. There was a time when the tourist industry in Northern spain was essentially visiting one Cathedral after another with millions travelling each year and giant attached economies of rest houses, security bands and food provision supported this popular mass activity. For me, one visit to Chatre of notre Dames is so amamzing that I am satiated for life with that beauty and majesty. However, it's a distraction, just like cricket, from what is important: individual lives!

For example, in Florence, it's wonderful to go to the Ponte Vecchio and shoot the crowds. The truth is that folk working in those stores wear clothes they can hardly afford and ride light scooters through any weather to have a small aprtment 70 minutes away as they cannot possible afford to live or eat anywhere near the Tourist places.

So to understand and visit Italy, one has to move away from the places we are led to visit.

Asher
 
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