Boat woman. Hue, Vietnam. 2007
Posted by razzbuffnik on July 7th, 2008
The Vietnamese think that dark skin is unattractive so many of the women who work outdoors keep most of their exposed skin covered.
Related Posts
Discordant colour in Sapa Vietnam. September 2007
I love the discordant colour combinations one sees in Sapa, Vietnam
and it would seem that th...
Sexual politics. Morocco. 1982
This photo speaks volumes about the position of women in Morocco.
The little boy seems to have more...
July 7th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
The color field and pattern here is amazing. At the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston two years ago they had a “Haute Couture” fashion exhibit…all the current big deal designers who showed their collections in Paris sent their original gowns…If you take all the fabrics and patterns in your picture and translate them into taffetas, cashmere, silks, linens, suedes, leather, ostrich feathers and with acres of hand embroidered beads, and then swathe a size 2, 6 foot tall model with them, you’d see a Christian Lacroix design or a Karl Lagerfeld. I’m not kidding.
July 7th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Pat
I don’t find it hard to believe that haute couture “borrows” from other cultures.
I’ve noticed that the poorer the population the brighter the colours. It only seems that in rich countries that earthy “natural” tones or black are desired. I guess if one lives in earthy surroundings all the time, one would want to see bright colours as a relief.
I particularly like the colour sense of the Mexicans. Here’s a link to some examples,
http://blog.allthedumbthings.com/2007/04/19/hispanic-graveyards-in-new-mexico-dont-just-sing-with-colour-they-yodel/
July 10th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Hey Razz,
What a beautiful photo. I love the colours and the eyes… Sad that she feels the need to cover her skin lest it becomes dark. I’ve just been reading a book about life in India and the creams etc people buy in the attempt to whiten their skin because it’s deemed more beautiful. Thing is, if we were all white/ pale, the world would be so boring. Different skin tones add beauty to our little universe, if people could but see it.
BTW, Monsieur and I are off to Vietnam for 2 weeks at the end of August. Any tips?
July 11th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Epic.
Thanks.
You’ll love Vietnam, the people are great and it’s an interesting place. As for tips, I think that’s beyond the scope of a comment but I think I’ll put together something for you with some of my thoughts on the place. We mainly travelled in the north and we went as far south as Hue.
In short though, I’d say, take your time and don’t try to do too much. It’s frickken hot and steamy!
July 11th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Thanks, Razz. I look forward to your esteemed advice.
Meanwhile, thought you might like to know that when I got up this morning I thought “Razz will be getting ready to sit down with his friends for Bastille Day dinner”. Can’t wait to hear how it went. I know Pat feels the same (cue sob for not being able to make it there ourselves…)