Mid-20th century Vietnam through Ukrainian photographer's lenses
An exhibition of Ukrainian Sofia Yablonska’s photographs in Hanoi showcases life in Vietnam in the 1930s and 1940s.
"Sofia Yablonska - A Journey through the Century" is being organized by the Vietnamese Women's Museum in cooperation with the Ukrainian embassy to mark the 32nd anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations.
On display are 55 photos Yablonska (1907-1971) took of daily scenes in Vietnam.
She was a writer, photographer and tourism camerawoman. At 20 she left her hometown to study in France. She went to several countries like Egypt, New Zealand and some in Southeast Asia. She lived in Vietnam for around 10 years after giving birth to her second child.
She wrote during travels, and later compiled them into two books, including "Distant Horizons" published in 1939, which depicted her journeys through the islands of the Pacific.
Two people carry passengers on rickshaws.
These vehicles appeared in Hanoi for the first time in 1884, according to the National Archive Center. Besides a few cars used by the French army, horse carriages and rickshaws were the main modes of transport in Hanoi at the time. Making rickshaws became a new art form in the latter years of the 19th century and early part of the 20th.
Two children sit beside a pond.
In her book "Distant Horizons," Yablonska speaks about her impressions of Vietnam as a strange and beautiful land.
