In the Vietnamese city of Saigon, a double amputee takes a break from begging on the streets to peer into a hair saloon.
One her day off, a hotel receptionist in Hoi An took me to several villages in the countryside. She knew I was a photographer and wanted to get photos away from the normal tourist trail. When we stopped at her friend's grandmother's home, I asked the older woman if I could take her picture. She smiled widely, reveling a set of betel nut stained teeth and captivating eyes. She had lived many years and experienced the war which had so devastated her country, yet there was still something of the forward-looking teenager in her.
A late afternoon scene in Chau Doc, a Vietnamese town in the Mekong Delta
A smile in Nha Trang, Vietnam
A woman tosses recently harvested rice into bags in a village outside Hue, Vietnam
A woman at work sifting impurities out of rice in Cholon, a district of Saigon
A woman at a rice depot in Cholon, a district of Saigon
A woman rests her hand against an oar in Chau Doc, a town in the Mekong Delta
The John McCain statue in Hanoi, commemorating the spot where he landed after being shot down in October 1967
A woman selling fruit walks along Truc Bak Lake, where John McCain was shot down in 1967. He landed with a broken arm and leg, and nearly drowned.
Joel Carillet has been a member since 24 December 2007 and goes by jcarillet.
Currently in Tennessee.
I am a freelance writer and photographer based in Tennessee. My work has appeared in a number of anthologies, magazines, and newspapers, including the Christian Science Monitor, Kansas City Star, and Best Travel Writing 2008. My book 30 Reasons to Travel: Photographs and Reflections from Southeast Asia will be published in August '08.
You can also find Joel at www.joelcarillet.com.