Hello everyone! I wanted to give a little heads up for my friends in Germany. Remi and I have a story in the current issue of Terra Magazine that will be on news stands through September. Covering a gorgeous twelve page spread, it concerns the phoenix-like renovation former Imperial City of Huê in Vietnam.
As I mentioned recently, we had a fantastic time covering our voyage up the Mekong River for Grands Reportages Magazine (I believe I need to make a “Past Adventures” post about it!). We stayed in the region after the cruise ended and with our own funds produced the story on Huê, which originally appeared in France for Figaro Magazine. Our time there was precious. For despite having been heavily bombed during the Tet Offensive in 1968, the monuments retained an innate grace even before UNESCO’s renovation had returned them to their former state of beauty. It was equally interesting to be in a former Imperial City at a time when the population was beginning to embrace the traditions of the past.
The ambiance was nothing short of magical. Here is the final paragraph of my article:
“A stream of images swirls past us as we zoom through the city’s streets on the back of a motorcycle. An elderly woman addicted to chewing betel nut flashes us a frightening black-toothed grin. A string of shops sell nylon wedding gowns as puffy as wearable marshmallows amidst internet cafés where every seat is fought over at lunchtime. Steam pours out of portable stands selling pho, the frothy noodle soup. A gentleman dressed in pyjamas proudly offers two perfect eggs for sale by candlelight at the night market. And always, there is a sense of time as moving both backwards and forwards with the flow of the traffic as it shifts for position. Perhaps it has taken over 30 years to arrive at this moment. For in Huê, the past is not a ‘Lost Time’ after all, but part of a present that is still evolving, zooming forward like the students on their bicycles into the future.”
©Heather Robinson
To see more of Remi’s lovely photographs on Huê: www.remibenali.com
Kabayoz, I would have never, ever guessed that English wasn't your first language, just so you know…
Merci et bon weekend!
Dear Heather, I found you through A Femme Un…and My French Country Home blogs. Soooo glad to have found you. English isn't my native tongue, as you can tell from the way I write and express myself. Wish I'd paid more attention in school, perhaps my grammar would have been a lot better. So far, it hasn't stopped me yet…:) It is always a joy to read your blog!!!
BEAUTIFULLY written…….HEATHER!I applaud you!
Dear Heather,
Well, congratulations to you and Mister Britches on your new publication. The article does look fascinating. Like several others among your readers,however, my first thought is that there's not much point in my googling the magazine, since I speak only about 3 words in German. Oddly enough, I've been there many times (mostly up in Lubeck), but all of my German friends are utterly/dauntingly fluent in English….and, even more oddly, they all speak the language with utterly-clipped, Oxford pronunciation. It's a bit disorienting to sit around a typical German academic's kitchen, munching on those inevitable late-afternoon cakes&cookies. All I have to do is to close my eyes, and suddenly I would swear that I'm back in an Oxford tearoom in the mid-eighties.
Not entirely beside the point….have you ever seen a marvelous, beautiful book titled "Hot Sour Salty Sweet"?
It's one of the most gorgeous (not a word I use lightly or frequently) books I've ever owned….mostly a cookbook, but also a pictorial travelogueand sociological investigation of the Mekong delta…written by a Canadian couple who've spent many years travelling in southeast Asia. your current posting made me recall that (for the third time) I don't actually have a copy, myself….I keep giving it away to guests who, having picked it up, are fascinated by it. I just ordered ANOTHER copy for myself.
you and your readers can find reviews and descriptions of the book at:
http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Sour-Salty-Sweet-Southeast/dp/1579651143/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345206240&sr=8-1&keywords=salty+sweet+sour
…yet more proof that you husband/wife, photographer/writer teams can cough up some really great stuff if left to your own editorial devices.
Once again, congratulations to you and Remi,
David Terry
P.S. you'll be thrilled to hear that, just this morning (at 6:30 am, to be precise) Her and I also embarked on a truly joint-project. Our very drunk, glamorous divorcee neighbor came toddling-over from her historic mansion yesterday afternoon…through our adjoining fences… and she left the gate open. This (and the eight-foot-high fencing surround the perimeter of the back gardens) is what keeps the damned things OUT. They'd be in the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and eating all the lettuce, if that fence and gate didn't exist. As of this morning?….the dogs went INSANE, and we realized that there were twelve deer (and two splay-legged fawns) in the rose garden, munching away. We, in our housecoats and nothing else, spent a good fifteen minutes chasing those things all around that enormous back yard…trying to herd them towards the one opening in the enclosure. Herve had to take another shower before dressing and driving off to work, still in a sweat.
Suddenly, an elegant little apartment in the center of Arles seems infinitely desirable. Did I mention that two of the dogs hystercially FOLLOWED all those danged deer half a mile down the road while we were busy flushing-out the remaning two deer?…
Merci Cindy! Have a wonderful weekend…
Loree, you are way too kind! And what a gorgeous thing to say. If you email me with your address, I'd be happy to send the whole thing to you. 🙂
That is a mighty fine compliment! Kabayoz, I don't know how you found me but I am glad that you did. I love the way you express yourself.
Bon weekend!
How about…sleeping on my computer? Never published in English. Would be happy to send it!
The "Dynamic Duo". Remi's pictures are truly exceptional. And your talent with a pen can create visual imagines that are just as clear and poetic as the pictures from his cameras.
This is so cool! (I wish I spoke German… hélas, non. How wonderful that you two can team up in this fashion to produce such an exquisite result.
(An English translation – somewhere?)