The city of contrasts

Saigon. Ho Chi Minh City. Two names, constant contrasts.

In this city, concrete crumbles under the shade of towering glass skyscrapers.

Bowls of salty noodle soup are paired with sugar highs. Sticky iced coffees, syrups with a dash of tea and the sweetest mini bananas you’ll ever find.

Sheets of rain appear like an apparition, offering fleeting relief before the sun returns once again to strike with venom.

The young meet in trendy cafes that make you question whether you’ve really left Melbourne. The old meet at sidewalk stalls and down lanes lined with produce. All mix as equals on the roads as scooters zip by.

Some lead hard lives, pushing food stalls or hawking lottery tickets to passersby as they scrape a living. Others live in glass towers, sport the latest tech and shop at Europe’s finest fashion houses.

The streets honk, buzz and honk some more as the stream of vehicles swerve ever onwards. Yet you’re never far from secluded alleys that branch off and up in all directions. 

What might you find? Family washing lines or boutique craft stores? Stray cats or your next great coffee? (Odds are, you’ll find all and more.)

In Saigon, the heat was draining. The traffic, deafening. The disorder, overwhelming. The city, alive—and so was I. 

Street photography with the Fujifilm X100V

On my third visit to this functioning chaos of a city, I documented my days with my Fujifilm X100V. 

No chunky camera. No long lenses. (And certainly no tripod.)

Each day I went out with one 35mm lens fixed to one compact camera.

With this subdued set-up, the X100V was at the ready everywhere I went. Down narrow alleys to explore what lay beyond. Up switchback stairs in search of secluded cafes.

Sometimes I’d find a striking wall or facade, then wait for someone to pass through the frame. (Or, more often, a scooter to fly by.)

Sometimes I’d meet eyes with a sun-lined face or see someone going about their day’s work. Previously, I’d hang back and snap a frame from across the street or in passing as I walked by. But on this trip, I’d exchange a smile and then ask to take their portrait. And by ‘ask’, I’d point at my camera, gesture a hesitant thumbs-up and then wait for an affirming nod.

With the Fujifilm’s retro design and tiny footprint, the X100V was far less conspicuous than my standard Sony set-up. It was my quiet companion as I navigated the network of streets and alleys. Even in the heat and humidity, it never faltered. It switched on in a flash to capture fleeting moments—and powered through each day on a single charge.

For my fellow photo nerds, I shot entirely in JPEG too. 

While Fujifilm’s colour science and custom recipes to tweak the look of an image are reason enough, I embraced the film-like finality that comes with shooting in JPEG. 

I didn’t need the flexibility of RAW. Unlike when I shoot landscapes, a wayward white balance or underexposed image is part of the fast-paced process of street photography. (And sometimes enhances the emotive feel of the image too.)

When shooting street, I’m not searching for perfection. 

I’m capturing small scenes that catch my eye and moments as they pass me by. And this friction-free approach to take, edit and share photos was precisely what I was after.

Here’s what I saw.

Saigon Street PhotoGraphy Gallery

Mekong River Gallery

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