Many foreign photographers have come to Vietnam to take photos of these vehicles, which have been published in international newspapers. Some photographers have also launched photo books about the subject.
Here is a review the photos of Vietnam’s vehicles by international photographers.
“Bikes of Burden” by photographer Hans Kemp
Dutch photographer Hans Kemp first visited Vietnam in 1991 and he was immediately impressed by Vietnam traffic and cargo bikes.
Hans Kemp said: “I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was an incessant stream of motorbikes on the road in front of me. There were entire families on a bike, guys in suits, girls dolled up. I stood there mesmerized, intoxicated by this all-permeating scent of petrol mixed with perfume, sound, color, and motion. There was an incredible vibrancy to it all.
Kemp began settling down in HCM City in 1995. In 2000, a client requested Kemp to shoot photos about traffic in Vietnam. The more he spent time on this project, the more Kemp was attached to the subject.
He implemented this project within two years. Whenever he had free time, Kemp travelled to all regions of Vietnam, and roamed around the streets to record impressive and unique moments.
Later, Kemp compiled the most impressive photographs in the photobook “Bikes of Burden”.
To catch the vehicles moving on the busy street, Kemp found Vietnamese friend who owned a Honda Cub who was willing to travel with Kemp throughout the country.
In 2005, Kemp published the photo book “Bikes of Burden” and the book immediately attracted the attention of the international photographic community.
The book includes 182 photographs recording impressive moments of cargo bikes in Vietnam. The photobook presents a vivid slice of everyday life in Vietnam through street photography.
In 2014, after nearly a decade, Kemp returned to Vietnam again to take more pictures on this topic, to prepare for the second edition of the photo book.
Though streets in the major cities there have widened in recent years and other changes in lifestyle have made cars more prevalent, Kemp said the motorbikes were still out in abundance.
“Seeing this unique species alive and kicking and swirling through Vietnam’s traffic, still vigorous and proud after so many years made me realize that they could very well be there to stay. Recalling that first day out on the pavement in Ho Chi Minh City, it was a reassuring thought indeed,” he said.
When foreign visitors find interesting books about Vietnam, “Bikes of Burden” is one of the top choices. It is from here that street photography in Vietnam became known.
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Motorcycles in Vietnam through the lens of Lee Thompson
In April 2015, photographs featuring motorbikes in Vietnam by British photographer Lee Thompson caused a “mild fever”.
Lee Thompson has seen plenty in his 14 years as an award-winning photojournalist covering the civil war in Libya, the revolution in Egypt, the tsunami in Japan and other extensive travels before he co-founded The Flash Pack, a small group flashpacking tour company.
But even he marvels at what the men and women of southeast Asia can balance and transport on just a scooter or a beaten up old motorcycle, and on one of his company’s Vietnam & Cambodia tours with a group of nine this month, he was compelled to capture some of the finest.
In this series of images from a single 14-day trip, he photographs a man casually puffing on a cigarette and carrying what looks like more than 20 live chickens in woven cages perched on the back of his scooter in Sapa, Vietnam.
At a Mekong river crossing in Vietnam he is there to watch a motorcyclist dragging a massive trailer out of a boat loading dock on a bike, with the load so heavy he pops wheelies, all the while not in the slightest bit bothered his two wheels have become one.
Thompson enjoys the fact that what looks quirky to a Brit is simply every day life for the locals. In Vietnam alone there are more than 37 million motorbikes or scooters, most definitely the vehicle of choice in traffic that would make western country’s peak hours look tame.
‘Unlike other tour companies we venture in to remote parts of Sapa where it’s not unusual to see bikes carrying livestock like chickens, pigs and goats – it makes really great photographs but it’s just a way of life for the locals,’ said Thompson.
‘I watched as one of the bikers tried to work out how he would carry eight goats on his bike, he fell three times before he finally got going and the goats didn’t seem to happy about it!’
A family of five and a smiling group of four adults pile onto scooters to get from A to B while another transport a giant pile of chairs stacked on a tray from one side of the city to the other with the power of just his humble two-wheeler.
With limited resources comes innovation, as is evident with one mother who has attached a cane high chair to the front of her vehicle to make it more comfortable for her to transport her toddler around town in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
‘Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh are full of bikes and it makes the morning commute in London seem easy,’ Thompson said.
‘Even though most of our group was very well travelled the amount of bikes on the road still comes as a shock in these amazing countries – it’s crazy!’
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Vietnamese motorbikes on Ton Koene’s photos
Last month, the amazing photos of motorbikes in Vietnam were introduced in foreign newspapers by Dutch photographer Ton Koene.
Ton Koene captured the delivery drivers as they transported everything from trees and bags filled with live fish to cases of bottled beer and massive boxes.
The riders are often dwarfed by their cargo as they cruise through the streets of Hanoi and other cities.
The amazing scenes play out on a daily basis in Vietnam, but they’re an eye-opener for Western tourists who aren’t accustomed to seeing such things.
Ton’s photos show the riders carrying almost everything imaginable on the backs of their small motorbikes.
He said: ‘There is really nothing in the world that Vietnamese can’t transport with their scooters. Fat pigs, big sewage pipes, bamboo poles, carton boxes or the entire family including the grandmother and the dog. With the up and coming economy, owning a scooter is a symbol of freedom and wealth, like it is for people in many other countries to have a car.”
“Normal city cars are too expensive and not very handy in the narrow streets of the crowded city where parking a car is impossible. Your motorbike, however, can be parked anywhere on the sidewalk.”
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Traffic in HCM City in Rob Whitworth’s video:
British photographer Rob Whitworth took 10,000 RAW images to make one spectacular time-lapse video of Ho Chi Minh City.
“Everyone who has visited Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, knows part of the magic (love it or hate it) is in the traffic. Ever since I first set foot in HCMC I have been captivated by the city’s energy. Saigon is a city on the move unlike anything I have experienced before,” he said.
Whitworth’s video shows Ho Chi Minh City as a hive of activity with some of the most reckless drivers possible, but the whole thing is shot so beautifully it doesn’t matter. And it took a lot of work, too. Whitworth says he did multiple shoots and took over 10,000 photos for the video.
PlayUnique VN vehicles through the lens of foreign photographers
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