photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty: Controlling perspective with the wideangle lens > Commerce, Saigon, Vietnam, 2007
previous | next
29-DEC-2007

Commerce, Saigon, Vietnam, 2007

Not only have western products found success in Vietnam, but western advertising techniques have taken hold as well, particularly on the main shopping streets of Saigon. I observed this cross section of business in action on Saigon’s busy LeLoi Boulevard. I moved in within a foot or two of the large poster of the hamburger, fried chicken, and French Fries, making it the anchor of this shot by filling half of my 28mm wideangle frame. Yet the wideangle format still leaves me enough space to include part of another poster, a doorway with a motorbike parked within it, and finally someone standing in an ATM alcove. The beauty of wideangle photography is its inclusiveness and emphasis. However we must move in, not out, in order to take advantage of this resource. And when I say “move in,” I am talking about being a matter of only a few feet from the prime subject.

Leica D-Lux 3
1/100s f/3.2 at 6.3mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
share
Phil Douglis26-Jan-2008 20:01
Yes, this image represents a cross section of the Vietnamese economy, keyed by the protruding end of the motorbike in the middle of image. The motorbike is the essence of this place, balancing the symbol of Western economic influence on the left, and the flow of money via the ATM on the right. The world has, as you observe, become a small place.
JSWaters26-Jan-2008 07:23
By 'moving in' you illustrate the smallness of the world as we know it. Here, the west's version of food for the masses stands side by side with the mode of transport used in Vietnam which stands next to the constant available money resource found at the ATM.
Jenene
Type your message and click Add Comment
It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest.
Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help private comment