From the Archive: The Dream Assignment
In February 1990 (yes, that is 20 years ago) I was commissioned to do a one-month long trip to Vietnam (see the story on my website). Régis Wargnier was going to shoot “Indochine” with Catherine Deneuve, and at the time there were rather few images of post-war Vietnam around. So he basically gave me a carte blanche, coupled with generous travel expenses, just to see what Vietnam looked like in 1990 before he started shooting. I would travel, accompanied by a very comprehensive fixer/monitor who managed to allow me a huge freedom of movement, in the North for a couple of weeks with a pale-blue Volga with curtains on the back window, take the train to Ho Chi Minh, and spend some more time down in that area.
VIETNAM. Huon Tich. 28/02/1990: Pilgrims.
VIETNAM. Hong Gai. 08/03/1990: On the ferry.
VIETNAM. Bac Ninh. 14/03/1990: Incense vendors near a pagoda.
VIETNAM. Ho Chi Minh City. 27/03/1990.