Vietnamese addicted to ‘virtual living’ photos

On a weekend afternoon at the end of February, the 26-year-old Hanoian girl asked her friends to go out and take photos of themselves with orchids and blackboard trees. The motivation for this was that she saw "a lot of photos of people with these flowers on the Internet."

The group of friends visited the To Lich River in Cau Giay District, as well as Hoang Dieu and Phan Dinh Phung streets in Ba Dinh District, only to see flocks of people already there.

They ultimately moved to the Ciputra urban area in Tay Ho district, but were stopped from entering by the guards there, as a result of the "no photos" rule. She had no other choice but to come back to Hoang Hoa Tham street in Ba Dinh District. But when she got back there, she saw many women already going as far as standing on chairs or climbing fences in order to get the best photos. Thuy Chi couldn’t get any good angles for her photos.

"It has never been this hard to take photos. All of the beautiful sites are crowded with people," Chi said. She and her friend then went to the Park City urban area in Ha Dong district, hoping to take photos with silver trumpet tree flowers because they were extremely determined to have photos to post on their Facebook profiles.

At the end of February 2023, a woman was seen climbing a fence to take photos with blackboard tree flowers on Le Duan street, Hanoi. Photo by H.H photo

The trend of taking selfies in front of beautiful sites is not just for young people these days. 60-year-old Anh Dao from Hoang Mai district in Hanoi said she and her friends also took up the hobby after the pandemic. "Taking photos with flowers makes me feel like coming back to my youth. I feel happier and more relaxed after doing so," Dao explained.

The woman added that depending on the locations, she chooses between wearing ao dai (traditional Vietnamese tunics) and Western dresses. However, hiring a professional photographer to come along is a must for her, so that she and her group of friends can get the most beautiful photos.

Every few months, the group of friends pays for this kind of service and travels to different towns to shoot photos of themselves by water lily ponds, lotus ponds, or in rice plant fields. They pay around VND1-2 million ($43-85) for each session.

Some people take this "check-in" game to another level. The 30-year-old Saigonese Le Cong prefers to take photos of himself at dangerous places. He has many times ignored warnings from his friends and trespassed fences to take photos of him the railway tracks at Long Bien Bridge. He has also climbed "the death cliffs" in Ha Giang and hiked Da Chong mountain in Quang Ninh to get his favorite shots. All his risky activities are in a bid to have photos that wow his connections on social media.

Le Anh Tu, a professor of Public Relations at Van Lang University, Ho Chi Minh City, attributed this phenomenon partly to Covid. "People are stressed after having to stay home for a long time," he claimed. Therefore, they feel the urge to go out, to break from their ordinary lives, and to share those updates to their connections through photos on social media.

In one of her studies about social media behavior in Vietnam, Do Thi Anh Phuong, a professor at Hong Bang International University, Ho Chi Minh City, also found that "sharing updates, including photos, videos, and statuses" was among the five most popular purposes of using social media for people aged between 11 and 35.

During March 2023, droves of people visited Bac Son street in Hanoi to shoot photos of themselves with flowers, even during weekdays. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Nguyen

This need has also impacted people on a larger scale, as various services have benefited from it. Beverage vendors, makeup services, and private parking area owners close to "check-in" hotspots have observed a rise in the number of customers. Photographers and households with large gardens, especially those who have good senses of current trends, are also among those benefiting from this phenomenon.

Phi Hung, a Hanoi-based freelancing photographer, claimed that his income rose by three to four times compared to the figure before the pandemic. There has been an influx of the number of people contacting him for city photoshoots, and he was fully booked in March.

The now 35-year-old Hanoian Duong Van Dat renovated his private garden in Bac Tu Liem District into a lotus pond. He then sold tickets to those who wanted to visit the garden and take photos for VND 50 thousand each. As the number of visitors went up, so did his income.

However, people should be careful about the downsides of this seemingly innocent hobby, said Tu. In the case of Thuy Chi for example, not having any good photos makes her feel uncomfortable and inferior to others. This could gradually transform into an attitude of competitiveness.

Regarding Le Cong’s case, he knows very well that taking photos at dangerous places is not allowed, however he still tries because by doing so, he receives many likes for his posts. In fact, data collected between 2008 and 2021 showed that 379 people worldwide lost their lives taking selfies. The figure of people injured was even higher. Young people, especially males, accounted for most of these cases.

On top of that, people could affect others while trying to take photos from the best angles and for the best visual effects. In February 2023, residents of alley 139 on Ly Chinh Thang Street in Ho Chi Minh City had to demand help from the authorities after many gathered in their neighborhood to take photos.

The alley became heavily littered, trees were damaged, noise pollution occurred, and some "visitors" were even seen changing their clothes in the middle of the alley, making more modest residents feel uncomfortable.

Residents in Hao Si Phuong put up a ‘no photo’ sign up to maintain their peaceful neighborhood. Photo taken at the end of February 2023, by VnExpress/Minh Tam

These were also the reasons why Hao Si Phuong neighborhood residents at 206 Tran Hung Dao Street in HCMC had to put a ‘no photo’ sign up. Ton That Dam apartment complex and Ly Tu Trong apartment complex in District 1 had to take similar measures in order to avoid disturbances. Fortunately, after the signs were put up, serenity was more or less returned to these areas.

Dr. Tran Long, former head of the Faculty of Vietnamese Culture at the University of Social Sciences and Humanity in Ho Chi Minh City, advised people to know their limits and avoid disrupting urban scenes. Authorities should also take actions to balance people’s needs for entertainment and the need for peace in local residents’ lives.

"Small and personal actions can have considerable effects on the whole society," stated Long.