This woman must have been waiting for someone for a long time. Is she bored, tired, thoughtful, depressed, or all of the above? Her mask and gloves, intended to counter the ravages of bad air and to protect her skin from wind, sun, and dirt, shroud her in mystery. By converting the image to black and white, I was able to eliminate the color of her clothing and the tourist bus parked across the street, and make her into a symbolic representative of all the harried commuters who run the gauntlet of Saigon’s throbbing, roaring motorbike traffic twice every day.