A day on the Red River

A visual story about a small community that lives in shelters and houses built with plastic/metal scraps on the riverbanks of the Red River, right in the center of Hanoi (Vietnam) under one of the main bridges. With these images I want to reconstruct a typical day in the hard lives of this community. They are one of many forgotten communities that strive to survive in the new, hectic and fast moving Hanoi… most of the times they are left to themselves and when in luck find some work in construction sites, markets and fields nearby. To meet with some of the people I had to go there very early in the morning (before sunrise) and then after after sunset when they came back from work . I was able to go there only twice and for just a couple of hours. They did not want me there and I did not want to be there too… human dignity is, and remains, a very important factor in my work and I always try to respect it. They also asked me not to mention their names. It was not easy to enter these communities and, when I was there, there was very little light, very little time and most of the people did not want to be photographed (understandably so, even if some of them agreed to it). So, grainy images and movement had to be part of the work and the only way to tell the story.