The photo was taken during the New Year's celebration 2022 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Happy New Year, we Vietnamese people still often go to the temple to pray to the gods for good luck in health, business, and family life in the new year. A long-standing custom of the Vietnamese people. This custom, however, has become worse today because people seriously pollute the living environment. Short people have a lot of incense, lanterns and votive papers.
Very crowded, the space was filled with smoke, I discovered a girl in her hand with 3 huge incense sticks, beyond imagination, she had a hard time holding them because of the weight. There are many people, I try to find a good angle to capture the full frame, avoiding the people around.
You have to be quick and decisive to get the frames you want. With telephoto 200, it helped me avoid surrounding obstacles and stay the distance needed to capture the subject's emotions fully. The surrounding space is so magical, everything is religious, divine to human, the main character in the photo also becomes shimmering in the smoke-filled space, She is like in a magical world. spirit, and as if floating in that world, the mood is like a coma and not knowing the surrounding reality anymore.
I was impressed by the incense sticks she held in her hand, it was big and heavy, it was difficult for her to hold it in her hand. However, because of the beliefs and superstitions that she defies, she is calm, and very determined to carry out her behavior.
These religious practices are a concern of the government, they are unscientific, pollute the environment and hide many risks. But, because of the freedom to worship, the government still creates conditions for people to