The Root

The Root - with Capital 'R'. This is to emphasise the importance of 'where we are from'.

These photos were taken when I got back from the UK after 8 years away from Hanoi, Vietnam. When I was back, there was a strong feeling all over me. Previously, I never spent time to actually explore the beauty of Hanoi, especially of the old quarter even I knew its inside out. Maybe because when you see something everyday, you can not realize its value, and maybe because when you went abroad and gained life experience, that was when you realized the most valuable thing was the simplest thing already around you.

The Old Quarter has been always closely with my childhood. I knew about it also through stories from my grandparents, my parents and my relatives. All of them told with their proud voices. Back to when I could start remember things, around 5 years old, the streets were not like this. They were more quiet, not a lot of motorbikes, no cars and less people on the roads. After Hanoi got expanded all the streets were amazingly busy. However, the Old Hanoi still lived through within the new development. Back at home, I decided to go everywhere to take photos focusing on the daily lives and the old parts that still remained.

Taking the camera everywhere I went, I realized that the Quarter was so beautiful, even with a small features to a big building or a whole street. The street life was so vibrant emphasizing its special character intertwined with the trees arcades on both sides of the street. Old buildings lived within new concrete blocks, this even made the history more important. At the Old quarter people could still find a quiet corner to reflect themselves with memories. The family, the relatives, the history, the culture, the food, the architecture, the daily life, and the childhood, all together created the value of the Root.

Let take a few moments everyday looking around you and think about where you are from. This will help you realize what is the true meaning of life rather than focusing crazily earning money and thinking just for yourselves. Sometimes it is too late to realize and we have so many lessons from other people about this already. Let treasure your Root and love what you are having at the presence.