Written By - Gabriele De Capitani
Relationship with Nature
Thung Nham, Ninh Binh - Vietnam
Vietnam’s culture is deeply connected to nature; rivers, in particular, were the source of much of Vietnam’s development, providing water for drinking, agriculture, fishing, washing, commerce, and much more. For centuries, and still today, rafts not too different from this one have been used to carry people, produce, and animals across the country. It’s safe to say there is an intimate relationship with water, connecting all people and animals alike. Something curious I have also learnt is that it's very popular in Vietnam to celebrate traditional beauty standards and the connection to nature by photographing beautiful rural women washing their long, curated hair in pristine rivers!
In fact, this photo was taken in a natural park. While I was floating on a different tour boat, looking for rare birds, I noticed a woman posing and moving on a raft, possibly following the rhythm of some music (unless it was in my mind). What you cannot see in this photo is that a few meters to the right there were two boats, packed to the brim with photographers and 1 drone operator who were all taking photos of this one model. How they managed to get different shots from one another by staying in the same location, I’m not sure, but after doing some digging, I found out they were part of a local organization charged with representing the beauty of Vietnam by travelling the country and creating artistic images, something I think has the potential to be such a rewarding job!
As my boat was floating beside this scene, I must say, seeing 15 people packed on a static boat made me giggle a bit, so I thought I would sneakily take my own pictures from a different angle, as I was convinced they would still work, artistically and compositionally speaking.
Thung Nham, Ninh Binh - Vietnam
Thung Nham, Ninh Binh - Vietnam
Walking through the same park, I stumbled across some farmers. I was very curious about their attire, as the jackets with integrated fans made me think of them as “the modern farmers”. As I watched them busy performing one of the oldest jobs in human history, just with modern clothing, I decided to, once again, dare to push myself to take a picture of someone without their knowledge, in order to capture a real moment. So I took out my trusty 200mm lens, and through some trees, across a stream, I knelt to frame my picture between two lines of straw, keeping my subjects in the center, and adjusting my aperture to have enough separation from the background while still keeping it recognisable, as I liked the presence of the bicycle and the other man.
Speaking of birds, I present to you the Asian Openbill, or “Co nhan”.
These stork-like birds are residents of Vietnam; they like to migrate short distances, always remaining in or around the country. Being an endangered species, they are a sign that the local ecosystem is healthy and well-balanced! This particular one looked a bit surprised to see me.
While unfortunately, I wasn’t able to bring my 600mm lens on this trip due to its size and weight, I took this picture on my 200mm. Travelling by boat meant I was very low to the water, and often the birds would be above me, so finding a good balance between their distance and their height relative to me was the main challenge, so I could get a good angle while making sure they also weren’t appearing too small in the frame. This is when having a 47MP camera comes in handy, as you can crop into your picture quite a bit without significant loss of quality.
Another challenge was moving quickly to capture birds in flight without hitting a fellow passenger in the head (sorry, kid… if you’re reading this).
Thung Nham, Ninh Binh - Vietnam
It was at that moment that my worries became vain as I was immediately spotted by a friendly farmer who started posing for me with a sincere smile :). This was a very happy moment for me because, with the tension gone, I was able to really enjoy taking this picture.
Hoa Lu Aincent Capital, Ninh Binh - Vietnam
Today I leave you with this photo of an ancient tree, growing from the ruins of the old Capital of Vietnam. I think that, the same way this picture would not have been very interesting without the natural component, so any manmade creation would not nearly be as impressive or beautiful without nature. Inspiration from nature, inclusion or contrast within architecture, photography, or any other art, for that matter, still includes nature. So just like Vietnam’s culture, I believe everything reconnects with Nature.