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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty One: The Marketplace -- crossroads of a community. > Economics of the street, Vinh Long, Vietnam, 2008
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03-JAN-2008

Economics of the street, Vinh Long, Vietnam, 2008

This image is packed with layers,each of them symbolizing a different aspect of Vietnam's booming economy. The woman in the foreground selling fruits and vegetables represents the agricultural economics of the past, while the motorbike behind her, which has come to symbolize Vietnam more than the conical hat on her head, speeds us into the present. Next to it, a watch salesman plies his trade, gold is being brought and sold, and two mannequins seem to incongruously rush from the store, trumpeting the newest in local fashion. Vietnam is a Communist country with a Capitalistic marketplace. Everything from hot peppers to flashy Chinese watches to slightly used motorbikes to pure gold and silken garments are for sale on its streets, and the prices conform to the laws of supply and demand. By layering all of this into one image, I try to express how Vietnam’s frenetic marketplace is evolving.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/60s f/3.2 at 11.4mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis23-Jan-2008 21:19
Thanks, Carol. And yes it is very interesting that the mannequins we find all over Asia have Western, instead of Asian, features. I explain the reason the reason for this in my response to another one of my Vietnam images athttp://www.pbase.com/image/91824256
Carol E Sandgren23-Jan-2008 20:58
Good job conveying that frenetic activity in this and seemingly every marketplace there! I enjoy the contrast of wares, and the sellers as well. Interesting that the mannequins used to display the latest in fashion trend are white. I found that so often in the shops throughout Vietnam.
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