Projects

Before the crowds and cafés, it was a quiet place of old streets and older faces. I spent a day walking with my camera—workers laying cobblestones, old buildings leaning into the past, locals going about their lives. A day in the life, just before everything changed.

Nestled between towering limestone karsts and winding rivers, Ninh Binh is a place where history and daily life intertwine. Farmers wade through flooded rice paddies, their hands swift and practiced, planting the next harvest. Fishermen cast their nets in quiet waters, carrying on traditions that have shaped this land for generations.

I think the hardest job about this project was the printing. I wasn’t very good at the time so I’d spend ages just trying to get something decent. Nowadays, I don’t think people understand how hard it used to be to print your own work. You really had to want to do it.

I really enjoyed walking the streets and taking pictures. All my dole money went on it. My father didn’t understand why I was spending so much money taking and developing all these pictures. He kept saying that they were going to be knocked down.

Back in the 80s everybody knew how to play snooker. There were snooker halls all over the place, all dark and full of smoke. There would always be fights about who would take on the winner. I used to hate that.

I wasn’t very good at using the flash back then—it was a hit and miss. I still don’t use it much today but I have improved. As you can see, they hadn’t got much in the flats but they did the best they could.

This shoot brought back so many memories from my time at O’Connell’s School, which was not too far from this place. There seemed to be shots everywhere. I think the kids felt safer here than on the streets. They could be themselves. Some days the light was amazing. Even now I feel a happiness come over me when I look at these photographs.

I don’t remember much from this shoot: I was there only briefly. I do remember it was a far calmer place than the boys’ school, however!