Giang Pham's world

My Scholarship entry - A bunch of lives

Vietnam | Monday, November 24, 2014 | 5 photos

Born and raised in the time when Vietnam had just opened to the world, I have been witnessed how rapidly life improves in this country, in many aspects. However, there are still several things that have not changed much, such as the railroad system. First appeared in late 19th century, Vietnam’s railroad system had improved intermittently during great wars in 1900s and then now seems to decline in both quality and use. When bus system gets a high development and flight tickets get cheaper, Vietnamese people tend to put trains aside whenever they travel. However, to several middle-class and most of lower class commuters, train is still the best option to journey, especially when it comes to long national holidays. It is ubiquitous to see hard-seat cars crowded with people and lifestyles when trains run in these days.

To me, life on train, especially hard-seat cars, is one of the best ways to understand Vietnamese. “The train journey is a genuine Vietnamese experience, flying is a wasted opportunity” (Mark Smith). Inside the metal carriage, it is not only wooden benches but also truly local life. It is easy to meet various kinds of human, from a public servant to a caring housewife, from a student coming back home to a lonesome backpacker going on a shoestring. I started traveling by train when I was very young. By keeping using trains often, I realize hard-seat cars is the best place to meet, mingle, talk, observe and understand people. There, I made new friends, explored local norms and learned lessons for my life.

Naturally, I fall in love with wooden benches and people sitting on them. And now that is the reason for the theme of my photo essay. By taking my passion in photojournalism into journeys on trains, I hope to capture real Vietnamese life under a new perspective: through photos that can speak thousand words. I wish to show my audience the image of local commuters with their stories in order that they can understand how people live on Vietnamese train and perhaps there could be several impacts from this fact to authorities for a better improvement of the railroad system.