Tag Archive for Ho Chi Minh City


This Photo of the Week (POTW) comes from the Ho Chi Minh City Museum. It seems most tourists either arrive in Hanoi or HCMC, and travel to the other city. Everyone I met was either going south to north, or north to south. There seems to be an itinerary that most people follow, almost religiously and it includes Da Lat, Ho An, Nha Trang, Ha Long Bay, etc, but mostly keeping out of HCMC. However, I hung out in HCMC and had my own fun. A lot of people I met on the tourist path said that they were so glad to get out of the hustle and bustle of HCMC, but I didn’t mind being there at all. There are plenty of things to see and experience.

One such place that is unhurried, relatively empty, a place out of the rain, really cheap (entry is about 75 US cents or 15,000VNM Dong) is the HCMC Museum. It is the former Vice President’s palace of South Vietnam. Construction completed in 1890 and originally known as Gia Long Palace, it became the residence of the Cochinchina Governor when under French rule (Wikipedia). During the South Vietnam era, it became the Vice President’s palace when the president built something even grander than this (now known as Independence Palace). Gia Long Palace is very grand, very elaborate, and it’s a proper mansion. Far more than what you’d expect the vice president of any country would get, let alone a newly independent former French colony. The entrance way is so grand, that today wedding photographers have a standardised course, images, and a routined array of angles for photographing newly weds. The rooms are so large that most are bigger than my entire apartment. And there’s even a bunker and escape route too connecting to the Independence Palace. Not that it helped in the end. What is really worth seeing, though, is history as told by the winners. It is their history, experienced, written and told by them. The perspective is really different. The building itself has not been well maintained, and so there are walls with paint flakes missing. The former South-Vietnamese Air Force jet fighters on display outside are in serious disrepair, even for display items. Cars out back need renovating, too. However, it is an escape from the city, and something worth experiencing.

This photo, and others like it will be available for licensing very soon at my agent’s portfolio (Asia Photo Connection), and my PhotoShelter portfolio at the Vietnam gallery, and Hieu’s gallery.

A young lady exploring the Ho Chi Minh City Museum (former Vice Presidential palace). Model: Hieu.


The Morning Cafe photo shoot

Here’s a sneak peak preview of what’s to come. This photo shoot was with the great Vietnamese model Bella Vu in The Morning Cafe. A special thanks to TMC for allowing us to shoot there. It was a quiet escape from the bustle of HCMC, where you can enjoy a great cappuccino. If you’re ever in town, you can find The Morning Cafe on Trip Advisor; 2nd Floor, 36 Le Loi Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City (TMC on Google Maps). The photos will be prepared and uploaded in the coming weeks.

A young lady in a The Morning Cafe in Saigon, Vietnam.

A young lady in The Morning Cafe in Saigon, Vietnam.

JPA sẽ đến #Vietnam

Tôi sẽ đến thăm Nha Trang và Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh trong tuần đầu tiên của Tháng Chín (2014). Tôi đang tìm cách để làm việc với cáccác người mẫu và chuyên viên trang điểm tạiđịa phươngcho một loạt các dự án nhiếp ảnh chủ yếu theo chủ đề du lịch và nghệ thuật.Tôi hy vọng sẽ làm việc với cả người nước ngoài và người Việt Nam, trẻ và già và trung niên, nam và nữ.Tôi cũng đang tìm các địa điểm chụp, có thể là quán cà phê, nhà hàng, quán bar, cửa hàng sách, cửa hàng, bất cứ nơi nào.Tôi cũng sẽ đánh giá cao bất kỳ lời khuyên hay ý tưởng, và bất cứ ai có thể cung cấp một số trợ giúp trong việc tổ chức các địa điểm chụp và nói chuyện với người dân địa phương(làm thông dịch viên).Nếu bạn quan tâm,hãy liên hệ với tôi càng sớm càng tốt; các người mẫu cũng xin vui lòng hãy xem các slideshow dưới đây và hồ sơ PhotoShelter của tôi, và xin vui lòng đọc trang Tìm kiếm Người mẫu.