West Lake is uniquely beautiful.

Text and photos:Le The Thang

Le The Thang, a photography enthusiast living and working in Hanoi, is more attached to the city than his hometown. “I love Hanoi, I love West Lake enough to wander around whenever I have time, whether the weather is fine or gloomy and rainy,” he says. “West Lake is the most beautiful place in Hanoi; I’ve always considered it that way. Whenever I long for beautiful images of Hanoi, whether extraordinary or simple, I always come here.”

And for Le The Thang, it's not just autumn, but West Lake seems to possess a strangely captivating beauty in every season, so: "I photograph West Lake in all seasons, all months, and at all times possible. I photograph from many positions around the lake, and from the lake itself."

He doesn't know how many times he's sat waiting for the sunset on Thanh Nien Street, how many times he's walked around the lake watching people fish and swim, and occasionally he'd rent a pedal boat, a so-called swan, and pedal out onto the lake to admire the surroundings from the water itself. "A couple of times, I climbed to very high points to gaze at West Lake with fascination." For him, it was always like that.

The Thanh