Vietnamese Amateur Model Search For Vietnam’s Next Top Model
Posted on April 12, 2008
UPDATE:
My Southeast Asia travel photography trip ended on September 5, 2008 and now I am back in Hungary to regroup. That means at this time I cannot shoot in Vietnam with anybody but I am planning to return as soon as possible. And no, I am not looking for Hungary’s Next Top Model :)
I have received several inquires from Vietnamese American models from the USA but I only have plans to travel to and shoot in Vietnam not America.
Please use the contact form to get in touch with me if interested in future projects.
Spite that Vietnam is the home of the most naturally beautiful women Vietnamese model search has been a challenge.
Approaching a beautiful girl at a noodle shop and asking her for a test shoot is culturally out of the question (would be the Vietnamese equivalent of being discovered at a McDonald’s).
Teenage girls are painfully shy with foreigners and either giggle and walk away or have that very funny deer caught in the headlight bewildered look as illustrated here:
This is an actual look I received and I could have 100’s of photos like this if I had the heart to raise the camera every time.
Searching for Vietnamese models online usually brings up ones living in the USA or Canada.
Browsing the most popular modeling portals like OneModelPlace or ModelMayhem comes up with few or zero results for Vietnam not to mention that most people here have never heard of Craigslist either and MySpace is not very easy to search.
Girls and females in general usually wear long pants, short shorts or mini skirts are very rare (Hanoi and Saigon are exception, maybe a few beach communities as well). One girl told me it would shame her parents if she was seen dressed more provocatively.
Quite a culture shock for me coming from Waikiki Beach, Hawaii where a woman wearing more than a bikini or a sarong on the street is considered dressed up!
But this is a good measure of how likely it is for a stranger with camera in hand to gain trust after just walking up to someone even in the name of “model search”. Bigger cities a might be slightly different but not really.
I was also surprised to hear that kids study primarily French in school so finding an English speaking girl during such a random search like picking out a potential model from the crowd is slim.
Paying a Vietnamese modeling agency could be an obvious option but modeling culture is still in its infancy in Vietnam and as I was told most models are independent anyways; also affording such an expense is not in accordance with my multi-month Southeast Asia traveling budget.
Therefore I have been and will be doing travel, cultural, people, portrait, kids photography which is fine and very rewarding in Vietnam.
This post with a catchy title is just an attempt to voice that I am looking for models or non-models, everyday girls for photography projects so the word is at least out there.
But it also does not mean that I cannot make someone Vietnam’s Next Top Model! Try me! :)
The stunning scenery of Vietnam is a perfect location for modeling photo shoots.
This little girl was actually a great model for a few seconds but this funny picture of her fits the subject of this post so well:
- One Hour Travel Photography In Bac Lieu, Vietnam
- Beautiful Blond Amateur Fashion Model Photos From Waikiki Beach
- Photography Trip In Crisis? First Ten Days And Zero Photoshoots!
- Fiji’s Next Top Model: Sarah Gerber - Fiji
- Hawaiian Pin-up Style Black And White Bikini Model Photoshoot
- Street And Kids Photography On Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
- The Best Model Photographer in The World - Google Says!
- New Travel Photography Album From The Roads Of Vietnam
- Colorful Life On The Mekong River In Chau Doc, Vietnam
- Black And White Photos Of Italian - Middle Eastern Bikini Model
Ha! That photo of the little girl is hilarious. :)
I agree, vietnamese women are very delicate and beautiful. I was been in Vietnam the past year. In the cities they are very shy, but in the countryside I’ve found many opportunities to take pictures. Take a look in my website.
Regards.
In the Marie Claire shoot, the model is pff…well, she doesn’t fit the background at all…
Anyway, keep trying…
Btw: szerintem Antal Imrére még te is emlékszel…tudod “Szeszélyes évszakok” Kudlik Júliával…szóval most halt meg :((( Már jó ideje beteg volt…
Nice photos.
Found your website through twitter.com
I will be traveling through vietnam in two weeks. I am an amateur photographer who likes to shoot on the side (not too much to speak of)
I enjoy the website, keep up the good work.
Aww the lil girl is cute!
Chao!
So nice to finally see your pics taken in Vietnam :) I enjoyed your entry about Bac Ha. It’s really great!
Actually, kids primarily learn English in school, from primary grades to senior high. :) Basically, Vietnamese are shy, especially when communicate with foreigners or being picked out of the crowd.
Spending a ‘lil more time to get to know about the people, I bet you’ll have all the pics you want :)
I’ll be back, checking your site often. Hope to see more of your beautiful photos.
Hi
i enjoying reading your posts ^_^ i’m of asian origin (chinese) and will be traveling to vietnam (saigon) end of aug (28aug to 2nd sept) for my eldest bro’s wedding (to a vietnamese) and would love to be part of your shooting (and search) and wonders if you would like to take my photos. i’m not a model or anythin, jus someone who love photograohing :) i have plans to look for a photography service in vietnam just for the sake of memory keeping and to try out different photo shooting in different country. if you’re interested in me, pls let me know. it would be great :)
thanks
love, marlene
Love your work. The little girl’s picture is cute! My sisters and I are planning to visit Vietnam this December. We were born and raised there. Haven’t been back in 25 years. It would be wonderful to see it again. An opportunity to be photographed by you for memory sake would be another incentive to visit. Please keep producing beautiful photos!
i go to vietnam every summer and i would love to do this.i am full vietnamese and i speak vietnamese,mandarin,english,korean,and japanese.
Hi there,
Since you mention about Chau Doc, I will take you to such place like Binh Duong, Tan Binh, Can Tho, Ben Thanh and especially Nha Trang. Nha Trang girls are very unique and gorgeous. Every corner, you will find beauty and more at this town. If you have extra SLR camera, I would love to help to takes picture of them. many young girls love to make friend with foreigner, but they to shy because language barrier and they don’t know where to start becuase flirting to them is considered inappropreiate and nauty. If there anythings I can do to help, please let me know. Good luck and best of luck to you and your profession.
Josef V.
You should check out my site :)http://www.onemodelplace.com/member.cfm?ID=393729
hi, i like to be a model of anything im also talented simple girl im a filipina but look like veinamise you can contact me girlp_22c@yahoo.com i can send you some pics
of mine to just email me to my personal email not here and how much your offer. have a great day and see u soon.