Vietnam 2003/2004 Photo Gallery by Maciej Dakowicz at pbase.com

Vietnam 2003/2004

Three weeks in Vietnam, in December 2003 and January 2004... my photographic beginnings.
I started from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and finished in Hanoi... I travelled all the way on the land - no flights, just buses - in 3 weeks I did more than 3000km. Vietnam is so beautiful.

all those picture were taken with a small Canon Powershot G3 digital camera.

some of your questions are answered here in my personal message

and thanks so much for all your comments and votes.

pages 1 2 3 4 ALL

Perfect smile	Mekong Princess	you have to buy!	The faithful under protection
A moment of patience in Hue	Black H'Mong girl from Sapa	Lazy afternoon in Sapa	the look
Gang of a Pink Rose	Mekong	Spiritual geometry	I see you, you don't see me
Ho Chi Minh City, Notre Dame Cathedral	Dragons around people	A longer moment of reflection	Woman and her temple
Halong Bay Girl	Sapa girl	Promise!	Great Cao Dai Temple
Vietnam?	A girl with book	Brother on the back	Tired
Hard life	Ho Chi Minh City, Life on a Cyclo	A scene from the market in Bac Ha	Cat Ba sunset
Eyes in the shadow	Conical diagonal	Friends	story of her life
A restaurant behind the tree	Ho Chi Minh City, Scootering	...those guys in uniforms	It is going to be a good day
Ho Chi Minh City, All those bad people	Lines on clothes, lines on faces	A moment of fun near Sapa	On the way to Chau Doc
A sea of green and people in hats	Lunchtime in Hoi An	A woman in a hat with a paddle	Ho Chi Minh City, Just married
Different hats	A girl in Sapa	A little girl with big earrings	Violet boots

pages 1 2 3 4 ALL

comment |

longbachnguyen	PM reply	08-Oct-2010 14:29
Lovely gallery of your visit to Vietnam

John Smith		20-Apr-2009 05:12
Great Job@

www.vietnamalive.com		20-Apr-2009 05:10
Great Job! www.vietnamalive.com

�g�st J�nsson	PM reply	16-May-2008 00:19
Beautiful gallery, great work! I wonder what you could have done with a DSLR :-)

Dave Berry	PM reply	26-Apr-2008 07:32
Beautiful gallery of a beautiful country. Very different from the Vietnam I left in '68. Thank you for sharing your photos. You got my vote. Dave Berry

John Tu	PM reply	03-Dec-2007 20:25
Awesome capture, thanks for sharing.

Vietnam travel, vietnam tours	PM reply	28-Aug-2007 14:37
Thank you for your hard working. There are interesting pictures. Bobby http://www.activetravelvietnam.com

Jim Taylor's Pictures	PM reply	23-Jun-2007 00:19
Wonderful Gallery. JT

Bill Nguyen	PM reply	22-Apr-2007 17:32
Thanks for your excellent works. Bill Nguyen Marketing Manager http://www.traveltolao.com http://www.easyvietnamtravel.com

timmy lockett		16-Jan-2007 14:44
if anyone else wants to contact me my emails smokindeurb@yahoo.com

timmy lockett		16-Jan-2007 14:27
hey this is a great gallery!!! i resently moved to da nang vietnam from virginia beach, virginia. i surf here in da nang everyday and am always looking for some company from out of the country so please tell me if u r ever going to come back to vietnam cus maybe we could meet and talk or surf or watever. thanks and keep up the good work timmy

Hung Lan		07-Jan-2007 04:16
Thanks for your photos. Do you return Vietnam again? I want to view your new photos in this 2007' Best wishes to you!

Bill Nguyen	PM reply	06-Jan-2007 08:01
What are so wonderful pictures about Vietnam. Thank you very much! I have given you a vote -:) Bill Nguyen Marketing Manager Monkey Travel www.traveltolao.com

Chris		21-Dec-2006 00:26
I was in Vietnam this past march and I am now wanting more than ever to go back. The people of Vietnam are wonderful people in that they can live such hard lives, yet be such a proud and happy people. Your galleries have truly captured the triumphs and tragedies of these people and I was literally brought to tears from some of your photos and commentary. Thank you for sharing your talent with all of us. Truly, Chris

Seventeen Forty	PM reply	28-Nov-2006 08:40
Dear Mr. Dakowicz, Thanks for your photos! I actually visited your gallery before making a 4-day trip to Ho Chi Minh City myself three weeks ago just for photography. Was quite inspired by your photographs. The funny thing was when I was approached by a very determined child beggar, I remembered your 'you have to buy!' story. :) And I just looked away. Anyway, my photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seventeen-forty/sets/72157594390594709/ I hope I'd have the honor to invite you to critique on my works. Thanks. rgds, Kar Gee Tan

kimberly borchardt	PM reply	09-Sep-2006 16:07
Hard to believe these were all taken with a little G3. Great pics!

Arnulf M. Elvevold	PM reply	09-Sep-2006 11:03
Vivid everyday life photos. Wish I were there.

Guest		31-Aug-2006 21:28
Simply Beautiful I Love Vietnam

T Dao	PM reply	22-Jul-2006 02:13
Beautiful photos, nice and kind people but so poor and sad thanks to our stupid, greedy and cruel commies.

dan phan		22-Jun-2006 20:53
Very nice pictures, they brought me lot of joy and feeling. Thank you for sharing

Nigwel	PM reply	20-Jun-2006 20:47
Great Galleries and Photos... http://www.pbase.com/nigwel http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nigel.ritchie

xnir	PM reply	18-Jun-2006 04:54
fantastic photos :-)

Jaime Serrano	PM reply	16-Jun-2006 22:10
Spectacular gallery; great portraits. Voted.

Veysel Birinci	PM reply	15-Jun-2006 19:34
Thank you very much for you share your wonderful gallery. I really love so much your works. Regards GMV Veysel

Sergio Pessolano	PM reply	15-Jun-2006 18:37
Excellent journalistic mood. Voted.

Viet Nam love		19-May-2006 08:21
i love Viet Nam toi yeu Viet Nam http://www.vnn.vn

kyoung kim photography	PM reply	17-May-2006 07:02
Excellent gallery!

Kim Vu		23-Apr-2006 03:12
i've been to vietnam about three times now, and in my opinion, you've really captured the lifestyle, the culture, and the personalities of the vietnamese and their beautiful country with these pictures. well done.

http://www.voyagevietnam.net		17-Mar-2006 08:29
Another good gallery is www.apostol.de

rkomenda	PM reply	28-Feb-2006 19:50
Just great gallery.

Guest	PM reply	26-Feb-2006 15:14
Another terrific travelogue, my friend. All the best!

Loan Nguyen		21-Jan-2006 01:09
I love your gallery so much! I am asking for your permission that I can paint one of your photos from your gallery, the one with the sapa girl with the big earings

Ian Miller	PM reply	06-Jan-2006 06:53
Some very impressive work. Well done.

Ian Miller	PM reply	06-Jan-2006 06:53
Some very impressive work. Well done.

Bich Nguyen	PM reply	30-Nov-2005 03:30
I'm impressed by your Vietnam gallery. I hope that many visitors can enjoy the wonderful pictures about Vietnam. Again, thank you for your pics. Nguyen Ngoc Bich Project Manager. www.vietnamhotel-link.com.vn www.discovermekong.com

Adina_G	PM reply	23-Nov-2005 18:44
Your gallery makes me tingle down below the waist. very sexual erotic

Guest		07-Oct-2005 11:10
Congratulations! fantastic galleries ,you certainly get my vote,your work is such an inspiration to all of us ,all i say is keep up the good work, i m looking for more best regards, elias . could you please visit my galleries and give an expert feed back i ll really appreciate and will value your comments and critiques all the best www.pbase.com/elias2033uk

aLub@	PM reply	08-Aug-2005 15:30
Maciekda, When each time I looking at your works, I always have different feelings. Your galleries are more like stories telling to me. Although I have not been to some places that you had visited, but I could image what that place looks like by just looking at your works. Thank you for taking me there for the moment. Voted!!!. Bruce

Donald Verger	PM reply	24-Jul-2005 11:21
well i intended to vote and cant find the vote button, am i missing it... please drop me a line

Donald Verger	PM reply	24-Jul-2005 11:20
vied/1 :) wonderful images and work Maciek!

Guest		08-Jun-2005 04:03
This is my first visit to this website. I love the color and intimacy in your photographs. Thank you for sharing them with everyone.

Arnulf M. Elvevold	PM reply	26-May-2005 13:28
Beautiful photos. Looking at them gives me an almost real feeling of travelling. The people, the colours, the everyday life - all is very well captured in your photos. Arnulf

Francis Tan	PM reply	15-Apr-2005 13:35
You have truly capture the beauty of Vietnam! The spirit and soul lies in the eyes of the citizens of this wonderful nation.

guest		30-Mar-2005 09:02
You have great sense in art even you shoot them with compact camera of G3. Thanks for sharing them.

Tommy Johnson		02-Jan-2005 15:48
Great gallery, very well done .

Todd Bennett	PM reply	01-Jan-2005 00:34
Beautiful photos. Amazing that you got such quality fom A G3.

Stunning		11-Dec-2004 15:03
Stunning! your work is truly "Stunning!

Jan		06-Dec-2004 17:40
Very nice work, you've got my vote. =) Jan Cash Advance

xavier		05-Dec-2004 00:12
Beautiful Gallery, beautiful pictures, exquisit style of yours, etc... Indeed! But how about giving some credits to the beautiful people in front of the objective... Fantastic, Xavier

Inge Ljunggren		03-Dec-2004 09:26
I love your pictures!!!!!

cypriennamibie	PM reply	24-Nov-2004 12:14
Hi, your galery is so incredible ! I love those portraits, and more precisely the ones where I can perfectly recognize some chilldren I saw during my own trip there. You could see some of them (in Sapa) in my own galery http://www.pbase.com/cyprien/vietnam). It's crazy to see them older. Two of those girls had grown up !! In my photo album, they will never ! It's a strange feeling. Again : yours photos are great !! (sorry for my poor english : I'm french !)

Guest	PM reply	19-Nov-2004 14:46
This gallery is truly impressive. Wonderfull pictures.

Maria Ang�lica Dal Secco	PM reply	07-Nov-2004 23:30
Hi....Impressive, wonderful portf�lio. The colors, compositions, scenes. All !!!! Very, very beautiful!!! "Tears". Maria9 (from Brazil).

LA TOAN VINH	PM reply	06-Nov-2004 16:52
HELLO MACIEK Im sure you had a NICE TRIP IN VIET NAM , I 'LL BE THERE FROM NORTH TO SOUTH IN Xmas time,We 'll be looking some thing change. http://www.pbase.com/latoanvinh

saskia	PM reply	04-Nov-2004 12:03
Totally love the portraits!

Witek		17-Oct-2004 12:09
Super zdj�cia, bardzo mi si� podobaj�. Gratuluj�

Guest	PM reply	12-Oct-2004 01:58
excellent pic. love it so much. plan to visit there one day! thanks for sharing!

Dung Tu	PM reply	11-Oct-2004 05:13
you have an wonderful style to take portraits of people unknown to you before. Really good.

Guest	PM reply	30-Aug-2004 09:45
your gallery is great! you were able to capture the whole of vietnam and your pictures speak a lot about the people and their culture. keep up the good work. i appreciate you sharing these pictures with us.

pingupingu	PM reply	25-Aug-2004 21:37
beautifull colors, street scenes and portraits impressive portfolio

wils		24-Aug-2004 17:05
Jestem pod wra�eniem. Gratulacje!

Dan	PM reply	22-Aug-2004 14:58
Wonderful gallery, really enjoyed the visit, great images and well put together, left a vote as my way of thanks.

ftang		20-Aug-2004 01:24
Hurray! You've recouped. I enjoyed your pictures so much and I am never tired of viewing your galleries. Your pictures are so special, they tell stories which makes people laugh and cry. You are very talented. I was so sorry to learn that your equipment was stolen in India. But now you are back. Keep up with your good work. And thank you for sharing!

saltzman40	PM reply	12-Aug-2004 00:12
Wonderful photos. What an amazing eye you have! Vera

Guest		26-Jul-2004 02:50
I must said u very brave to travel 3 weeks in Vietnam by bus..your belonging can be stolen (include camera)..

Guest	PM reply	08-Jul-2004 21:01
Beautiful Pictures. Some of the pictures you took in Sapa remind me a lot of the study tour I did in china. I also stayed in Hmong village for 4 days. Yes, they do have really hard life, but they're all very happy people. Thank you for sharing with us.

George		03-Jul-2004 09:53
Visiting your gallery has been a wonderful start for the day. Thank you for sharing it.

Guest		03-Jul-2004 08:34
Nice capture, maybe I would have sometime to take a set of photography too. http://www.photos-of-the-year.com/

monique jansen	PM reply	02-Jul-2004 08:05
Wow, what an amazing gallery - I love the portraits you have made of Vietnamese people. Absolutely wonderful.

Threeland Travel		26-Jun-2004 07:46
Dear Maciek Would like to express our special thanks for your wonderful pictures of Vietnam. It makes us very happy and we shall try to let people know further about Vietnam Yours truly, Tung Nguyen Business development manager http://www.threeland.com

Tom		22-Jun-2004 20:19
Hello, my compliments for your nice photos! Please come see my photos sometime? Best regards, Tom from The Netherlands. http://members.lycos.nl/tomjutte/

David Hasenick	PM reply	11-Jun-2004 13:07
Just one word... Wonderful! Thank you for posting these great photos and interesting narratives.

Patrick Bantzhaff	PM reply	09-Jun-2004 20:20
Very beautiful gallerie. Your pictures are wondefull. These superb shots reminds me with great pleasure our 2 weeks trip in Vietnam from Hanoi to Saigon 2 years ago. Thanks for sharing.

Evert Elema	PM reply	09-Jun-2004 10:23
Great series of pics, wonderfull colours and excellent composition. Keep up the good work.

Gary Jacobson		04-Jun-2004 08:20
Maciek, Your pictures warm my heart, with the color and human touch that so evident, and so appealing, giving me a view of Vietnam I did not get during my tour as a combat infantryman with the 1st Air Cavalry in 1966 at Phan Thiet. You make me feel as though I were there, through your lens. You make the people come alive. I am webmaster of "Vietnam Picture Tour, from the lens and poets's pen of a combat infantryman...telling the story of my "walk in the park" grunts called Vietnam. Experience chilling reality to leave the sweet and sour taste of "the Nam" pungent on your tongue, the smell of "the Nam" acrid in your nostrils, and textures of "the Nam" imbedded in you as though you walked beside me in combat. http://namtour.com/namtour.html Vietnam is a beautiful country, with beautiful people, and I thank You for sharing this glimpse of life there with me.

David F. Peterson	PM reply	30-May-2004 21:16
A very special gallery. The G3 worked well, and your photographer's eye comes through repeatedly. I'm amazed at the candids without the aid of a long lens. Any special technique for warming up to the people? Again, a wonderful album! Dave

Ha Dang		17-May-2004 21:21
I just have a trip back home by your photos. Thanks for sharing. HD

carlos		16-May-2004 19:23
cze�� wszed�em na tw� stron� ca�kiem przypatkiem szukaj�c innych �eczy zwi�zanych z Hong Kong , jestem po du�ym wra�eniem , czy ludzie pozuj� ci ? czy si� tak udaje udaje wspaniale zatrzyma� chwil� ? . To co robisz jest naprawd� bombowe . �ycze super zdi�� , pozdrawiam Carlos z Poland

Marcel de Jong	PM reply	16-May-2004 13:12
Maciek, All your galleries are wonderful. You have great eye for detail and your work has a profound emotional impact. Cheers, Marcel

Guest	PM reply	15-May-2004 18:14
There are snaps, pics, photos, photographs and art. Yours are photographic art. Each one a masterpiece in itself. Each depicts a sense of place and time. Your comments add to the context and our understanding. Your galleries are, in my opinion, the best of the hundreds that I have visited here or anywhere else. I too was amazed at the camera that you are using. I thought that it would have been one of the high end SLR's. I don't think that the G3 is still available. The G5 seems to be the newer version. If it were the camera alone, I would now be running to our nearest camera store before the secret was out. :-)

Alan Grant	PM reply	13-May-2004 20:21
I am envious of your gift for "people" photos - hopefully I can learn something from this wonderful gallery.

mcq	PM reply	13-May-2004 15:31
This is a lovely gellery - intelligent and aware. It is as beautifully crafted as a Schubert song. Thank you. McQ

Mandy in Oz	PM reply	12-May-2004 15:53
beautiful gallery which's so strong! hope to go there someday. thanks for posting. have a good day, mandy

L Nguyen	PM reply	12-May-2004 03:40
Great gallery! Thanks for sharing! You got my vote!

Phil Douglis	PM reply	10-May-2004 18:53
As travel photographers go, you are at the top of my list, Maciek. And you do what you with a relatively simple camera, the Canon G3. (I must admit by own bias here -- I use the G5.) And that might be one of your secrets. You are relatively unobtrusive, and you can pivot the LCD viewfinder so that you don't even have to hold the camera up to your face. This would free you for face to face contact with your subjects, and may account for the extremely warm responses you seem to be getting from people. The key to the success of almost all of these pictures, which are very well exposed and composed, is a sense of human values that runs through almost all of your work. You really care about these people, and it shows. The key to effect "street photography," which you are very good at, is the ability to interact with your subjects at close range to get the most out of their spontaneous responses. And you do this very, very well. You have captured the face of Vietnam here as well as I've ever sent it done. Congratulations. Phil Douglis

Bob		09-May-2004 17:24
You have captured life in Vietnam in a way that a lot of people would love to keep coming back to see over and over. You certainly have a hiden talent to take great pictures. You see the beauty in the land and the people. The images show your love for the culture, people and natural beauty of the country. Thank you for sharing your humble experience and for capturing the beauty of your vacation. I have some friends that came here to the united states back in the 70s that are in Vietnam right now. They are really enjoying their trip back home. Keep up the great work with your photography. Take care, Bob

Guest		09-May-2004 13:39
It's amazing what a G3 can do..for a 3X zoom

Vince		09-May-2004 11:09
Gorgeous pictures. Do they come out of the camera like this, or what kind of post-processing did you do? Thanks for sharing.

Seanbert	PM reply	08-May-2004 16:44
Great pics!! congraulations!! I wish i'd have the opportunity to visit Vietnam and experience this wondeful country as you did. Thanks.

pingupingu	PM reply	08-May-2004 05:22
hello, i think that it is possible to say you have talent. continue like that and have fun.

Robert	PM reply	01-May-2004 12:45
Superb!

Brooks Miller	PM reply	01-May-2004 06:22
Outstanding photography. Congrats

Petey		30-Apr-2004 23:45
These photos! I just wanted to say that your photos of the H'mong children are excellent. Especially the one of the smiling girl with the baby on her back. So ubiquitous!

John Maston		30-Apr-2004 09:28
You did an artist's job of reflecting the "common person's" desire for a good life, the world over.

Chip Seiple	PM reply	30-Apr-2004 06:43
Beautiful images. Many are almost exactly like the ones I took 33 years ago, especially the street scenes in Saigon, [TuDo] which I visited often. Thanks for the memories. Vietnam Vet, '71-'72

lee		30-Apr-2004 05:27
I am not a photographer so I can't comment on the quality of you pics but as an observer I want to thank your taking them and sharing them the pics and commentary deserve a big thank you.

lee		30-Apr-2004 05:21
I am not a photographer so I can't comment on the quality of you pics but as an observer I want to thank your taking them and sharing them the pics and commentary deserve a big thank you.

Alon Brik	PM reply	29-Apr-2004 19:30
got my vote! great stuff

Guest		29-Apr-2004 18:56
Thank you for sharing these pictures! They are very beautiful.

Lisa Haskins	PM reply	29-Apr-2004 10:14
This is an extraordinary gallery! A fascinating a powerful journey...thanks!

Thai Nguyen		28-Apr-2004 22:00
Hi Maciek, You have the talent. Your pictures are so beautiful. TN

KTN Photography	PM reply	28-Apr-2004 21:17
My beautiful country. Thanks for capturing these beautiful and interesting pictures! Wish it would be free again. pbase.com/ktn

Carlos .	PM reply	28-Apr-2004 06:28
Great photos on your gallery, with great feelings and lighting.

Ron Horloff	PM reply	27-Apr-2004 17:23
Thank you for the tour, and this most excellent gallery. You have the eye of an artist. Ron

reyeslp	PM reply	26-Apr-2004 14:40
I'd love to come to Vietnam and Cambodia. Your galleries have really inspired me to go.

Ray :)	PM reply	25-Apr-2004 23:11
Having seen this portfolio, I wanna go there. I love people shots and you have some great ones here! Thanks for sharing.

Danny Brison	PM reply	25-Apr-2004 09:56
Very nice photography. Super quality.

Arnaud Lerondeau	PM reply	23-Apr-2004 10:02
Totally beautiful... You're a great photographer (and writer too).. Arnaud http://www.pbase.com/alerondeau/

eddy hertens		20-Apr-2004 22:56
Truly amazing pictures,...especially considering you did it with a Canon G3 I am going to Vietnam in less than 3 weeks (with a new Nikon D70) and I was looking for some inspiration. These pictures have given me something to aim for...and have made waiting for my trip to begin again a bit more difficult.

copycat	PM reply	18-Apr-2004 13:55
Wonderful gallery!! I like the you capture people's expression... It tells a story in every pic... keep it up! I voted this gallery too.

Guest	PM reply	09-Apr-2004 17:58
Beautiful photos i vote for this gallery :)

Matt Reichel	PM reply	08-Apr-2004 20:46
Fantastic images, what colors, this is what photography is all about! Well done.

Vinay	PM reply	16-Mar-2004 16:43
Lovely gallery with rich deep colors

Guest	PM reply	16-Mar-2004 14:40
I love your photos, you can capture the characters and life of the people so beautifully!

JeffinHillsboro	PM reply	15-Mar-2004 11:34
You did a fantastic job- many of these images are suprb and more than a few are stunning, including the preoccupied girl at the market. And all that with a G3! I've used that darned camera and its slow focus drove me nuts. You must be a very patient photographer! And your composition skills speak of formal training - perhaps in design? Thanks VERY much for sharing. You could make a book with these.

Jill		13-Mar-2004 12:54
Your pictures are beautiful, I'm hoping to teach English in Vietnam and these pictures have inspired me! Thank you. ps Its strange, my boyfriend is Polish & is also called Maciek!

Guest		04-Mar-2004 07:20
Touching, moving and unforgettable portrayal. Happiness is the feeling I experience viewing your photos. Thank you.

Steve Roden	PM reply	03-Mar-2004 07:42
This is one great gallery - you captured the spirit of the people well. Lovely!

sevres babylone	PM reply	02-Mar-2004 04:36
Excellent gallery. Great composition.

Wojciech Burkot	PM reply	01-Mar-2004 14:25
Macku, Gratulacje - piekne zdjecia. Pozdrawiam, Wojtek

Brian Gustafson	PM reply	29-Feb-2004 17:51
Very nicely done. Brian. http://www.pbase.com/galleries/DigiDawg

Georgia Roessler	PM reply	29-Feb-2004 03:22
Stunning photography here. Your portrait of the Vietnamese people is magnificent! How wonderful to see them through your eyes!

Mark Elert	PM reply	28-Feb-2004 22:33
Very personal pictures you have taken a fantastic country. I was there 1998 and 1998 and would love to go back again. Waiting for some more. Mark

Shouchen Peng	PM reply	28-Feb-2004 17:20
I love this gallery. Thanks for sharing them. These are real photography! http://www.photozo.com

Tom Lun	PM reply	27-Feb-2004 23:43
Excellent photos!

Guest	PM reply	27-Feb-2004 01:13
thanks for sharing this gallery, really awesome pix here. i can learn a lot from you. keep on shooting!

Jeff Gegner	PM reply	25-Feb-2004 21:55
Beautiful work.

Denise Dee	PM reply	25-Feb-2004 00:47
spectacular! i love this gallery. thanks, denise

Danny Cambr�	PM reply	22-Feb-2004 18:23
Beautiful photo's of a beautiful country and it's magnificant people. Danny

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