Passage To Vietnam Through The Eyes Of Seventy Photographers

From Amazon A fascinating look at an ancient nation in the midst of dramatic change. Spectacular photographs and a detailed text present an intimate and comprehensive look at Vietnam. To create this unusual portrait, 70 photographers from fourteen countries were given unprecedented access to a country that is just now emerging from decades of war and isolationism. Magnum photographer Bruno Barbey rides along with thousands of pilgrims down the Swallow River to the Perfume Pagoda. Pulitzer Prize-winner Jay Dickman travels to the northern highlands, where he photographs the ancient Hmong tribe. And former Life photographer Kick Swanson goes back to Vietnam for the first time since the war, photographing its lingering effects on the people of the Quang Tri Province. The photographs are complemented by captions written by Fortune magazine editor Colin Leinster. In addition, noted travel writer Pico Iyer shares his impressions of a country just awakening from twenty years of isolation. Pulitzer Prize-winner Stanley Karnow explores the long struggle the Vietnamese have waged to preserve their homeland. And Vietnam Investment Review correspondent Peter Saidel gives an insider's look at Vietnam as socialism and commerce meet face to face. Product Description The creators of the phenomenal Day in the Life series now present an elegant collection of photographs--the work of 70 photojournalists from 23 nations--that offers an intimate look at the people of Vietnam as their nation launches into a new era. 200 photos, many in color. Size D. Touring photographic exhibition. From Publishers Weekly The work of 70 photojournalists from 14 countries (including 15 Vietnamese photographers), this eye-opening and beautiful photo-essay on Vietnam portrays a reunified country still recovering from the wounds of war. More than 200 candid color photographs take us inside homes and temples, brick and bicycle factories, oil fields, open-air markets and college dorms, profiling a people of restless energy and ancient culture. Sponsored by U.S. and Thai corporations, the book argues that Vietnam's Marxist communism "is hardly strident or insistent," and that reforms of the last decade have freed the nation from Ho Chi Minh's doctrinaire policies, allowing private ownership of businesses, foreign investment and greater freedom of expression and worship. Smolan created the bestselling "Day in the Life" photo-essay series; Erwitt is the project director of Against All Odds Productions. 85,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; first serial to Newsweek (cover story); BOMC selection. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Smolan's Day in the Life photography series has been extremely popular, so much so that his latest volume, an eye-opening book on Vietnam, will be featured in Newsweek and has an 85,000 print run. Smolan and company set 70 enterprising photojournalists loose in Vietnam for one week. They took 200,000 photographs; the editors selected 200. For everyone who remembers, or visualizes, Vietnam as a country savaged by all the horrors of modern war, this selection of images will be a revelation. For one thing, Vietnam is a country of ravishing natural beauty: a land of mist and mountains, rice paddies, rivers, and rain forests, with a 1,400-mile coastline. Isolated from the West, especially the U.S., after the war, Vietnam has not only regained its intrinsic, pristine majesty, but has preserved traditional ways of life, even in the increasingly progressive cities. Many photographs capture people at work in fields, markets, and shops; engaged in prayer and other spiritual rituals; and at rest and play. The Vietnamese are extremely attractive, agile, and hardworking, at one with their homeland and proud of their 4,000-year history. Travel writer Pico Iyer describes the romantic yet industrious atmosphere of Vietnam in his fine introduction, while other essays provide historical background and consider Vietnam's future now