In her project Vendors, photographer Loes Heerink shows that rather than drones and cranes, simple methods to get shots from up on high never go out of style and actually have their advantages. Her top down images images of merchant bikes are soon to be published in a book thanks to a successful Kickstarter.
Having spent years living in Hanoi, Vietnam working with charities, schools and as a writer, Dutch photog Heerink had come to know the city’s rhythms. She became enamoured with the city’s vendors traveling to and fro on their bikes.
/Loes Heerink /Kickstarter
“Imagine getting up at 4 every morning, packing your bicycle with as many vegetables or fruit as you possibly can and walking around with a heavy cycle for kilometers every day,” says Heerink on her project page on Bored Panda. “Not knowing the beauty you make every single day!”
Recognising something special, Heerink knew that these vendors would make an excellent photo project. However she was conscious that to show the magnificence of these arrangements, she would need a good angle to shoot from. She realised that by perching up on one of the city’s many bridges she could simply wait for vendors to pass and that at the moment they walked under she could snap away. Shooting from directly above would allow Heerink to display the symmetry in the vendors’ arrangements that no other practical method could manage.
Though it did provide some wonderful images this did require a great deal of patience. Heerink states,“I would spend hours on top of a couple of locations in Hanoi waiting for vendors to walk underneath the bridge. I once spend five hours on a location with no shots. ” She adds, “I have to admit, it can get pretty chilly waiting on some of the locations during the rain. ”
/Loes Heerink /Kickstarter
Reception to the initial photos was extremely positive and Heerink soon struck upon the concept of a photo book compilation. A Kickstarter appeal was launched and quickly surpassed its goal of €3,700 (US$4,090) to hit its current total of €7841 (US$8,675) and growing. Totalling around 100 images, the book will be a typological collection of vendor images as well as interviews with the vendors themselves.
“I talked to some of these women, often female migrants coming to the city trying to earn a little extra money,” Heerink says, “They have to work very hard, earn little money and work conditions are not very good. ”
Heerink plans to return to Vietnam to capture more shots and get these interviews sorted, with the book being complete by December 2017. Asking for a relatively modest amount, she has said that the book wasn’t intended to make a great deal of money and was simply a labour of love. However, with several days to go before her campaign ends she may not be able to avoid the possibility of this being a success.
You can see more of Heerink's work on her website, Twitter, and Instagram. You can find out more about the Vendors Kickstarter here
. digitalrev.com2016-11-2 03:00