Lanterna Rally

Author: Mark Erickson

Publisher: Independently Published

Published: 2019-07

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 9781076517951

Mark F. Erickson was born in Saigon in 1972, evacuated as part of Operation Babylift in April 1975, and adopted by an American family. At Harvard College, he studied Vietnamese history and documentary photography.In 1993, Mark returned to Vietnam and created a photographic record unlike any other. Through his extraordinary vision and deep respect for his subjects, his portrait of the Vietnamese is beautiful, lyrical and personal. Other Streets includes 90 duotone photographs.Preface to Other StreetsI have been carrying this film around for over a quarter century from Hanoi to Saigon to Boston and to New York. The origin of these photographs lies in the Saigon of the early 1970s where I was a war orphan. I count myself as one of the lucky ones: as part of Operation Babylift in April 1975, I was evacuated by the Americans from Tan Son Nhat to San Francisco International and, after a brief stop at the Presidio, to Buffalo Niagara where I was adopted in West Seneca, New York.As a child in western New York, I devoted hours to drawing, painting, and photography. For the last, my older brother had built a darkroom in our basement so I had access to everything I needed to learn the basics. As a student at Harvard College, I had the opportunity to study Vietnamese history with Hue-Tam Ho Tai and documentary photography with Chris Killip and David Goldblatt.Highly influenced by what I learned from them, I returned to Vietnam in 1993 with a manual 35mm camera, a basic tripod, and a lot of film. I spent countless days riding my gearless bicycle around Hanoi, shooting and burning images into my memory. Given that I was always seen with a tripod strapped to my back, my nickname amongst the few English-speaking foreigners was Tripod Boy. Beyond Hanoi, I traveled in the north to Lang Son and Haiphong, and southward to Quang Tri, Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An, and Saigon, which had been renamed Ho Chi Minh City.Upon my return to the United States, I started the work that you now hold in your hands. Suffice it to say, it has taken a lot longer to finish than I ever imagined. So long that the world in these images no longer exists: the one after the conflicts with America (1954-1975), Cambodia (1975-1989), and China (1979), but before the rapid increase in economic development that continues to this day.Many excellent photo essays have been published about Vietnam, mainly about the war years. Some are powerful but also necessarily ugly, as war is without censorship from Washington or a makeover from Hollywood. This book is not about war or famous people or infamous places. Instead, it is about the beauty that I found in ordinary people doing ordinary things in ordinary places.I am indebted to many, but especially to my wife, Julia, who constantly challenges and pushes me; our children--Irina, Nathanael, Anna, Jacob, Jonathan, Nadia, and Eli--who inspire me and give me hope; and my parents, Ed and MaryAnn, who adopted me.M.F.E.New Vernon, New JerseyJune 2019