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Photography: I Won an IPA!

I won an IPA!

It was humbling to open my inbox and see that I won an IPA! I had been awarded an Honorable Mention in the International Photography Awards! I’m very proud of the photo, but I didn’t think it would be seen by so many people. As a matter of fact, this shot has really been making the rounds in recent years. Last September, I saw that “Saigon Dragon” had been featured on the Travel+Leisure Photo of the Day page.

Out on the Town

I took this photo back in 2015 in the Bui Vien District, in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. I was on a one-night personal photo “retreat” after  starting a new position at SSIS. Most of the evening was spent getting used to my new Sony A7Sii video camera—I shot the video below the same night with the Sony and my dad’s old Pentax Super-Takumar 55mm (this was before later moving up to the stunning Sony 55mm f1.8 Zeiss glass.)

Saigon Dragon
I captured this shot while wandering Bui Vien/Pham Ngu Lao area (the “Backpackers District”) of downtown Saigon. Sadly, these kids are out there every night, risking their own safety and health, to perform for tourists and expats, for very little money. But they do put on quite a spectacle.

Different Cameras for Different Shots

But I really wanted to work on low-light street photography. Fumbling through two learning curves (photo and video on the new Sony) was too steep a climb for me. So I brought along my trusty Canon 60D workhorse for still photos. I would grab my camera/lens, head into the city, and then change gear to switch from photo to video. I’m pretty sure this photo was shot with the “nifty fifty”, the “plastic fantastic”, a 50mm f1.8 portrait lens that every photographer needs to have. They cost about $150 and they are worth every dime. Capturing it at that particular angle and moment was as much luck as skill—like so much street photography. I like to think it also came down to coming to know that city so well. Being in the right place at the right time.

I miss Saigon very much, and while this photo is illustrative of a pretty unfortunate circumstance of Saigon youth, I believe it also portrays the wild, gritty fire that makes the city so alive. **BTW: If you’re interested in learning more about the Bui Vien area of Saigon, you gotta check out Dave Fox at Globejotting.com

I’m extremely proud and humbled to have won an IPA. The IPA is a sister organization to the Lucie Foundation, and so even an Honorable Mention puts me in some pretty good company (the email even came with an invitation to the gala at Carnegie Hall this October!) Alas, I won’t make it to the big party. But it thrills me to know more people now see my photography and have a glimpse of the city I used to call home.