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The Áo Dài’s Flowing Elegance Mirrors Vietnamese Femininity

What images come to mind when you think of Vietnam? A peasant in the conical nón lá hat, harvesting rice from the fields? Colorful lanterns dancing from the masts of river boats or the corrugated eaves of Taoist temples in ancient Hoi An? Perhaps you dream of karst peaks that erupt from the placid waters of deep-blue Ha Long Bay? All are part of the visual culture of the country I now call home. But I believe nothing says “Vietnam” more than the áo dài. The sleek silk gown is as much a statement of Vietnamese fashion and femininity…

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SOMEWHERE WEST OF LONELY | MY LIFE IN PICTURES

Publisher Indiana University Press | Author Steve Raymer
Reviewed by Caroline Erskine

In the world of publishing, there are some books that fit into the world you inhabit — by work, or simply by life experience. You tend to see those books through the small details that make a life in journalism so interesting. Steve Raymer’s Somewhere West of Lonely: My Life in Pictures is one of those books. Raymer’s career with the National Geographic ran from the early 1970s through the 1990s into the new century — a period sometimes described as the golden years of photojournalism. The magazines had big budgets, pages to fill, and were fiercely competitive. That competition made its way down the food chain to the photographers themselves.The photographers who thrived in that era were driven to tell stories with pictures, to follow the news, to relate the state of humanity. Read More

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