Sai Gon Portrait Of A City (Tai Ban 2025)

Sài Gòn Portrait Of A City

When I first arrived in Saigon in 2011, I fell in love with the city straight away. Over the next few years, I discovered the beauty of the city, with its small streets and alleyways known as hẻm, each one a labyrinth of life which has developed inside the old arteries originally traced by the French. But I also discovered to my surprise that old French houses were not protected, that they were constantly being destroyed to make way for large steel, concrete and glass towers. By the time I was working for The Word magazine in 2013, I understood the fragility of Saigon’s built heritage and realized that it was disappearing very quickly. It was at this point in time that my work in Saigon took on its real meaning, and photographing the city’s vanishing architecture became my priority. Today I photograph people, life, the streets... What catches my eye at this time are the shantytowns along the canals and rivers, which I contrast with the new developing city. I never stop photographing the city and its inhabitants, trying every day to tame my surroundings and the ever-changing light, which these days owes a lot to pollution. Then there’s the rainy season, which hardly makes photography easy... but I love the warm light at the end of the day. My work can be difficult in a bustling city where the traffic is intense, light is not constant, and many places are closed and inaccessible. People can also be suspicious when I approach, because they don’t understand my work... However, with a lot of persistence and patience I have been able to complete this project. Saigon is a very beautiful city which deserves a lot of attention, but if local people don’t take care of it they will lose it. I hope from the bottom of my heart that my work will help raise awareness and reveal the beauty of Saigon, a city whose unique built heritage is in imminent danger of disappearing forever.