Photographer's Note
Shyness
This is the photo I shot in Hue — the city that has the nick-name “áo dài
City” — because almost everyone dress this once they leave their house. Here, female students must take white áo dài as uniform, along with the conical hat as a must-tradition.
Girls in Hue are the shyest ones among the three regions of our country Vietnam. That’s why they have a quite different term: in the South, shyness is mắc cỡ, and in the North, it is bẽn lẽn. In Hue, even though the golden time of kingdom has gone, the girls here still be ốt dột when a male look at them or ask them a question. Hopefully my explanation gives you the answer as to why the face of this beautiful girl has been half-covered.
*****
In Viet Nam, the áo dài is the traditional dress for women. Developed from Chinese court clothing in the 1930s, this style of clothing went out of fashion in the north in 1954 and in the south in 1975. Recently, however, it has made a comeback and is regaining popularity in the south among schoolgirls and office workers, and is being worn at formal functions. An indication of social standing, the áo dài is worn by women who work as shop assistants or who have a higher social status, while manual workers typically wear a loose top and baggy pants called an áo bà ba.
Pronounced “ao yai” in the south, but “ao zai” in the north, the áo dài is considered to be an elegant, yet demure, garment. Traditionally, long, wide-legged trousers are worn under a high-necked, long-sleeved, fitted tunic with slits along each side. The outfit’s pants reach to the soles of the feet, often trailing along the ground. Over time, the dress tunic has evolved, keeping with fashion trends, and has grown shorter and shorter until it now falls just below the knees. The áo dài can also be identified by its mandarin-style or boat-neck collar. Young girls wear only pastel colored or white garments while married women wear either dark or bright tunics over black or white trousers.
Historically, Vietnamese men dressed in mandarin style suits. With a tunic shorter and fuller than the áo dài, the suit’s color was traditionally determined by the man’s class and social rank. For example, a purple suit denoted a high rank while blue denoted a low rank. Status was also indicated through a variety of embroidered symbols. Today the mandarin suit is rarely worn except for in traditional dance or music performances.
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Critiques | Translate
jbweasle
(9393) 2005-03-27 6:07
A wonderful portrait which really gives the feeling of shyness. Well lit, with the subject standing out well from the blurred background. Good, simple frame. Only minor point is that it is a slightly noisy image with some lack of sharpness in the detail.
Kenny10pin
(19301) 2005-03-27 6:08
Hi, Welcome to TrekEarth, I think this image is nice, but it is a little coarse, you need to sharpen it, or when taking this shot, goa little closer, if the lady was very hsarp, it would of been tremendous and also adds a little light to it too, but the dof is nice, well done
fiedziu
(1764) 2005-03-27 6:12
nice picture (maybe could be sharper)
but first of all thanks for comprehensive note
greetings, happy easter
KevRyan
(22956) 2005-03-27 6:16
A lovely shot and a wonderfully comprehensive note. I would guess that this photograph is great as a print but you may need to do a little to work on the scanning and image processing stages - what camera do you use?
I will be in touch again soon! I always choose to limit the height of my pictures to 650 including the frame - that way people don't have to scroll the image for a smaller screen - although it's easy enought to drop it on the desktop.
You have a lovely depth of field here and I also like the way you have used the reserve and shyness to accentuate the shapes.
rbcy1974
(20758) 2005-03-27 6:48
Its a wonderful portright,and a very good accompanying note. Nicely done.
Skarrlette
(96) 2005-03-27 6:52 [Comment]
gren4
(603) 2005-03-27 8:28
the lighting is nice on pattern of the hat making this a focal point with peak of a smile.
Robert_L
(385) 2005-03-27 11:13
I would prefer to see the entire face... which I can guess is very nice! Also, some overexposed areas on the hat.
totetuti
(83) 2005-03-27 11:31
Was this staged? If it was not... well seen... Beautiful photograph regardless...
ninix
(957) 2005-03-27 11:40
Hi Nhiem,
Very strong photo. I also would like to see her face!
Show me more of the country and people.
Thanks,
Hendrik
perryhooter
(2424) 2005-03-27 14:07
Good day Nhiem,
Lovely ambiance and portrait. Like Jonathan , my only negative point would be the lack of sharpness.
It would have been perfect to me then.I guess this is a scnaned photo of an orginal print.
Great note. Very informative.
Thanks for sharing.
Robert
jrzufferey
(7305) 2005-03-27 14:28
Jolie composition, cette jeune fille souriante sous son chapeau. J'aime bien. Amicalement/jr
PSYOPS
(0) 2005-03-27 16:26
I agree with the loss of sharpness in this well-composed photo.
Regarding composition, I think Nhiem captured the best of the photo while having the face half covered by purpose. This answers to me why the girls in Hue and Danang always hid their faces each time I looked at them. 3 decades ago, I thought they maybe VietCongs and they hated GIs like us. Well, it takes me too long to this finding, but I am glad I know now. Thanks, Nhiem!
Happy Easter to you and your family. I read your intro and I love it, too. Take care!
Durius
(1288) 2005-03-30 0:00
Very nice, well composed photo.
But there is something wrong ...
I could not find any shyness in the girl ...
It seems she is very sturdy girl, just does not want to be recognised ...
It seems she is posing ...
In reality, shyness could only be catched by chance !
Note also that, "Ao Dai" is banned from secondary school and offices many years after the war. Today it is required in secondary school and official meetings. Whether it is banned or it is required, it is never out of fashion, I believe. That is, for most of Vietnamese girls and Vietnamese women, it is always well-beloved dress !
lolo-06
(169) 2005-06-16 6:55
Nice portrait, i think the light is good with an opposition between the hair and the clothes.
The angle is well done.
Salil_B
(737) 2005-10-14 15:04
The shape of the hat, the stance of the body, the shoulders and the arms join together to create a beautiful compostion. If there was a little more space between the left elbow and the border, it would have been perfect. The flowers accentuate the white dress.
I find the picture quite sharp.
ckuan
(270) 2005-12-08 2:35
The matching colour and texture of the hat and the dress. The hint of shading at the front of the conical hat ... and below that, only a beautiful smile that reveals her bunny tooth - leaving us to wonder what emotions her eyes speaks. Complimenting the smile, the demour language of her posture, hands and fingers adds to a wonderful picture.
randompics
(961) 2007-01-02 22:04
This is a sureal shot. but i wish it was bit sharper. DOF and composition is excellent.
Mistral
(15416) 2007-02-23 15:58
Hi Nhiem,
you masterly caught her shyness and elegance!
Background is great too!!!
A smile from Italy
Luca
kavics (105) 2010-02-23 6:07 [Comment]
dale54
(17768) 2011-08-18 13:20
NHIEM THIS IS A WONDERFULL SHOT!CROPED JUST RIGHT!COLOR IS FANTASTIC!THANKS FOR SHARING.
No_One
(4) 2012-01-17 11:01 [Comment]
Photo Information
-
Copyright: Nhiem Hoang (hoangthenhiem)
(2531)
- Genre: ·ç¾°
- Medium: ²ÊÉ«
- Date Taken: 2004-06-21
- Categories: Artwork
- Exposure: f/6.3, 1/100 seconds
- More Photo Info: view
- Photo Version: Original Version
- Theme(s): HUE — my birthplace, Inspirational Vietnam photos [view contributor(s)]
- Date Submitted: 2005-03-27 5:56
- Favorites: 8 [view]