Leica M11 – An Empty Vietnamese Café Still Breathing
Leica M11 + Leica 35mm Summilux Lens - Hue, Vietnam
Location | Hue, Vietnam
Camera & Lenses | Leica M11, Leica 35mm and 50mm 1.4, Voigtlander 75mm Nocton.
Bag | Wotancraft Easy Rider Sling Bag V2 - Shop My Affiliate Link Here
It’s been a while since I was able to go out and shoot for me and me alone. I’m currently down in central Vietnam, Hue to be exact. I’ve come here many times for New York Times assignments, mostly travel stories. I was also here for a Canon PR thing where I tested a new camera while I was the face of a TV show called Photo Face-Off.
This time I'm here to scout for my latest photography workshop. I’m with my wife, looking at new locations, meeting artisans from the region, fine tuning our curriculum, and yes, taking a few photos for myself.
Last week I sold my beloved Leica M10-D. It was my personal project camera, my “me” camera, and it was hard to let it go. I’ve never actually struggled parting ways with gear until that one. It marked a pivot in my career, or at least a return to shooting personal projects that matter to me. Most notably, it was the camera I brought to Kenya to photograph the last two northern white rhinos.
I sold it to justify having a golf simulator room in my apartment. Yes, I’m becoming a predictable middle-age man in many ways. Still, I'm a Leica photographer, an M shooter, and I have my M11. The sting of selling the M10-D softened when I cradled my M11, played some Boyz to Men, and quietly mourned my screenless digital friend.
So here I am in Hue, an often overlooked part of Vietnam that should be on everyone’s radar. The people are soft and friendly, and the ancient capital is rich in both visual and culinary charm.
Using the new Wotancraft Easy Rider V2 Sling Bag.
My wife and I wandered through craft villages, talked to artisans, listened to their stories, and gauged who might want to join our workshop. On this recon mission I fired off a few frames for myself, giving myself space and time to follow whatever caught my eye.
We strolled through the incense village and met a smiling elderly woman making incense sticks for 50 years. The color are overwhelming and I always have sort of a visceral reaction to incense villages because I’m so tired of those contrived images that are manufactured by contest photographer but this place was real and raw and she was so sweet. I took some portraits along with shot of her working and afterwards we printed the portrait as well, and tomorrow we will drop it off for her. We also met 73 year traditional Sinh painter, equally as sweet and photogenic.
Leica M11 + Leica 50mm Summilux Lens - Hue, Vietnam
A tiny village cafe with a rice paddle across the street and a church in the distance looked abandoned. While my wife got chased by a protective dog, I stayed back and worked the recently vacated scene. Not abandoned for long — just a few hours after the morning rush. Watery residue of cafe den da, sua da, and green tea rested on top of the ubiquitous red plastic tables and chairs seen from north to south, almost like the country’s unofficial cafe uniform.
It was the kind of scene I’d overlook on assignment — not on the shot list, not part of the story, and I wouldn’t trust an editor to see what I saw. But not this time.
Leica M11 + Leica 35mm Summilux Lens - Hue, Vietnam
This time I could shoot the sh%$ out of it. I worked it with my 35mm, 50mm, and even a few frames with my 75mm. The shadows of the glasses, the stacked chairs, the coffee station with weathered steel pots and grounds — it all suggested a busy morning. In my head the owner or staff decided that cleaning could wait until the afternoon rush. It was perfect — relaxed, unhurried, very much how I think of Hue compared to Hanoi. No one’s in a rush, people are chill, life moves slower here in the best possible way.
In many ways the M system mirrors Hue — relaxed and deliberate, no need to race. This was a reminder of how and why I love to shoot, and that maybe I should pull on that thread more often: shoot what’s in front of me, not just what I came looking for.
The light was perfect today, but this was good for photography soul, I kinda love slow street photography, it should be a genre.
