Stop and stare: the story behind Hanoi's vendors from above

By Trang Bui, Lam Le   April 16, 2017 | 09:00 am PT
Loes Heerink returned to take more pictures of vendors and found things had changed.

Seeing beauty takes patience and sometimes requires a different vantage point.

That's how Loes Heerink has fallen in love with Hanoi and the city's street vendors.

Like a bird, the Dutch photographer spent months waiting on bridges to take pictures of the vendors. Her project, "Vendors from Above," caught the attention of The Guardian, Business Insider and many Vietnamese media outlets.

This year the artist returned hoping to take more pictures and complete her photo book.

But something didn't feel right.

Heerink told VnExpress International that many of her favorite people had abandoned the sidewalks amid a city-wide cleanup campaign.

“I’m a little afraid of the sidewalk revolution,” she said, describing the vendors as part of the soul of the beautiful city. 

 
 
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