Photographer Spends Hours on Bridges to Capture Colorful Overhead Portraits of Street Vendors

 

Keen photographers have the ability to elevate the ordinary into stunning imagery and photographer Loes Heerink has done just that with her series about the street vendors of Hanoi. Waking up at 4 am, the vendors—often female migrant workers—pack their bicycles to the brim with fresh flowers and fruit, walking miles throughout the course of the day to peddle their wares. Heerink lived in Vietnam for many years and became fascinated with these street vendors, so much so that she sought to capture their beauty in a unique way.

Stationing herself on different bridges around Hanoi, Heerink patiently waited for vendors to pass, capturing these colorfully symmetrical photographs as they unknowingly moved below the bridge. The work takes patience. “I once spent five hours in a location with no shots,” Heerink explains on her new Kickstarter campaign. “This project started my fascination for the women carrying their goods. They have no clue how beautiful their bicycles are, no idea they create little pieces of art every day.”

Heerink's dream is to expand the project to 100 images and publish a book to celebrate the beauty of these hardworking street vendors. Through Kickstarter, Heerink hopes to raise funds for a return trip to Vietnam, where she will interview workers and finish shooting the images necessary to then complete the publication. Heerink isn't aiming to make money from the project, but to simply publish the series in order to fulfill a dream and spread the beauty that these vendors unknowingly embody.

Loes Heerink: Website | Kickstarter
via [Bored Panda]

JESSICA STEWART

Jessica Stewart is a Contributing Writer and Digital Media Specialist for My Modern Met, as well as a curator and art historian. She earned her MA in Renaissance Studies from University College London and now lives in Rome, Italy. She cultivated expertise in street art which led to the purchase of her photographic archive by the Treccani Italian Encyclopedia in 2014. When she’s not spending time with her three dogs, she also manages the studio of a successful street artist. In 2013, she authored the book 'Street Art Stories Roma' and most recently contributed to 'Crossroads: A Glimpse Into the Life of Alice Pasquini'. You can follow her adventures online at @romephotoblog.

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