Saigon night fish market movie
Nothing new here for some of you... It's a cameraphone film from Chanh Hung night fish market in Saigon. Music by Spring Heel Jack. I'm slowly YouTubeing all the films I've made. Will blog as and when I upload them.
1. Fish chick
This is the last in the series of my five favourite photos from the recent Chanh Hung market night out . Eyes front, motion, perspective, fluorescent light filled background. IMO, them's what makes this the best shot out the 301 at Flickr. I'll be back this way soon. Massive.
2. Trucker
A pedal truck transporting fish along a gangway in Saigon's Chanh Hung night fish market. I like the contrast in the direction the three guys are looking.
3. Drag
At Chanh Hung market in Saigon ice is transported in weaveware buckets, fish is transported in crates. Small stacks and dragged with a metal trolley, or as in the case above dragged along the ground without anything. Both women and men drag. Large stacks are transported in pedal cyclo-like trucks. The heaviest stacks move about on wee motorbike/trucks.
4. Fish boots
Certain sections of gangway at Chanh Hung market are covered with thick cut grass or leaves. I think this is to prevent wellington boot wearers from slipping on ice or water. I like detail shots. Wellies and grass are key details of this market. Some wellies are white, some black. The white are a bit Sex and the City, but they're what Saigon's chic fishmongers are wearing this season.
5. Icemen
These two guys are delivering a bucket of freshly shaved ice to one of the many fish stalls on Chanh Hung market in Saigon. The ice is shaved on a machine outside the market on the opposite side of Chanh Hung street. Here's a short ice shaving film. This isn't a very good shot, but I like the way the two icemen are eyeing me directly. Icy. Brrrrrrr....
Videocast - Chanh Hung market
Saigon's Chanh Hung night fish market continues to rock my blog. I've posted on it before. On this latest visit I was accompanied by Linda, Alison and NoStar Where - so something of a Vietnam blogger's night out. Nice :) I wanted to make another in the cameraphone videocast series. Here's the result
In the end, I got carried away with taking still shots. 414 to be precise. I deleted the total shit and uploaded the acceptable shit. 301 photos make for a large Flickr gallery. You can also see them as a slideshow. Persevere, (IMO) there's some nice shots in there. I'll be blogging my five faves over the next five days.
I'm not entirely happy with the videocast and I'll be back to make another. No need to prattle on about the market experience again, NoStar Where has the lowdown. I will say that Chanh Hung is probably the only place in Vietnam where, within the space of an hour, I've had fish thrown at me, been told to "fuck off", seen many a wide smile and then told to vacate the premises by security guards. I love this place.
UPDATE: Music on this videocast: Spring Heel Jack - Suspensions Dub. I am working on finding Creative Commons licensed music to accompany videos to avoid any snotty cease and desist letters. In the meantime go buy the Spring Heel Jack CD. It's very good.
Nightfishin'
A couple of days before I hit Europe I spent a night in Cholon, otherwise known as Chinatown. First, a nibble at Phung Vy restaurant, then a trip to the night fish market on the other side of the Saigon river. This was my first visit and I hope not my last. I was thoroughly blown away. This gargantuan, wet, wholesale heap of fish and chaos really has to be seen to be believed.
It's not as organised as say, Tokyo's Tsukiji, or Seoul's Noryangjin. It's very Vietnamese i.e. a complete, total and utter mess that in spite of itself manages to function. It opens around 11pm and shuts firmly at 3am. I'm reliably told that every single sprat, skate, shrimp and squid is sold on the night, every night. From the (casual) looks of things we must be talking hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars of fish on the move every single night through this market.
Ice is shaved on machines outside the main entrance (see the film) to help preserve the fish. This is clearly a working market (see another film). You'll be elbowed, pushed, shouted at, threatened and told to fuck off in no uncertain terms. It's definitively not tourist friendly, nor for the faint hearted, claustrophobic and/or the casual 'couple of cod fillets 'n' a bag of cockles to go, please' buyer. As far as I can tell, fish is only sold in bulk for restaurants and businesses.
Big up to my mate Ben, a globe trotting bat conservationist, for agreeing to tag along. Cheers Brett for suggesting I bother in the first place. Ditto the chefs at the Sofitel Saigon Plaza. Market address to follow, meanwhile check out the snaps.
