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En Garde, Golden Hour, Hoi An

Matt Sievers

Vietnam

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A woman grabs bundles of incense, freshly died in a vibrant magenta-red, and stands them upright in fanned array to dry in the sun. Nothing is staged: just a woman, going about her daily work, as another outside the scene throws bundles, like sheaves of rice, onto the ground nearby so easy to reach.

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Honorable Mention

Sheaves of Incense, Northern Vietnam

A field of yellow flowers, cascading down towards the Pacific, off Hwy 1 in Malibu captured my attention. I was curious how the scene might develop using a longer shutter speed and doing a pan, and this was it. A peaceful combination of the sea, flowers, and hills, mixing gently into one.

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Nominee

Yellow and Blue, Malibu

A young boy from the La Chi ethnic group runs along the top of a rice terrace wall in Northern Vietnam. I have fallen many times just trying to walk these narrow mud pathways, but he traverses them with ease. In the water-filled terrace below, already harvested, you can see the boy’s reflection.

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Terrace Run, Ha Giang, Vietnam

In Mu Cang Chai, a Hmong family in the far distance finishes any final work they hope to do on the terrace heights before nightfall. Within a week or two these greens will turn to gold and it will be time to harvest. The serene beauty of the scene betrays in many ways all the work that is to come.

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Lines of Green, Terrace Heights at Dusk

THIS is a Nepali highway. Suspension bridges dot the landscape of Nepal's Manaslu Circuit. They make life in such rural areas possible, and travels much easier for both residents and foreign trekkers alike. Donkeys and their keepers also are fixtures along these heights, bringing in food and basics

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Donkey Train, Nepali Highway, Manaslu Circuit

Wandering off into peaceful fields of creative ideas and thought, it's amazing how productive our being unproductive sometimes can be. We need minds free to roam, to be curious, and to wander. To dream. A young woman here wandering through N. Vietnam tea hills for me embodies just that. A daydream.

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Daydream, Tea Hills, Northern Vietnam

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The ao dai is the traditional dress of Vietnam. Once worn as daily attire prior to 1947, the dress is more often reserved today for festive and formal occasions. But it remains symbolic. And here in the ancient capital of Hue, we have ao dai elegance and the colors, red and yellow, of Vietnam.

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Ao Dai Charm - Elegance

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Prior to 1947, the Ao Dai was commonly worn as daily attire in Vietnam. Today it remains just as representative of the country, but is reserved more often for formal affairs and dress-up occasions. This capture was taken in Vietnam’s ancient capital of Hue.

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Ao Dai Charm - Mystique

Captured at sunrise along Hoi An’s Thu Bon River, a traditional Ro fisherman works beneath both a yellow-gold net and golden-hour light to round up fish caught during the night. With a long stick in hand, he appears just as much swordsman here as he does fisherman; a fencer with foil to corral fish.

Bronze

Two monks, clad in red, sit on the ground near Kathmandu’s famous Boudha Stupa. Located along the ancient trade route from Tibet to the Kathmandu Valley, many have traveled and sat along these streets over centuries. With sandals off, they are in no hurry, sitting and conversing as others stroll by.

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Two Monks, Boudha Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal

Fishing boats in Vietnam tend to be very colorful, but it doesn't stop there. Nets, too, come in a variety of colors. Here, a woman in Bac Lieu mends vibrant blue nets. The nets appear like an ocean all around her, with white cap waves breaking as well. It's as if she is mending the sea itself.

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Mending the Sea - Bac Lieu, Vietnam

It’s spring in Mu Cang Chai and water-filled terraces appear like a tapestry still being woven together. Some terraces are filled with green. Others have just been planted. Another in the middle sits empty. A man and water buffalo complete the scene, a terrace tapestry showing the beauty of Vietnam.

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Terrace Tapestry - Mu Cang Chai, Vietnam

It's rice planting season in Lao Cai, and several Red Dao families work together to carefully remove green rice shoots from a full terrace above so they can be transplanted to help fill empty terraces below. At elevation, most of the work is still done by hand even as it has been for centuries.

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Planting Party - Lao Cai, Vietnam

In Vietnam's far north, near its border with China, you will find the Flower Lo Lo. Distinguished by their colorful dress, it can take up to a year to create this hand-stitch costume by hand. The skill and technique required to make has been passed down from mothers to daughters for generations.