For Marcus, photography is a hobby, a job, and also a way for him to preserve each image of the lands he has visited. The beauty of Hanoi to Marcus is like a precious "gem", going through the rapid changes of space and time, this "gem" still exudes the "soul" of the thousand-year-old capital.
After 16 months of exploring and taking tens of thousands of photos of Hanoi, Marcus has selected nearly 200 of his favorite photos to include in the photo book Hanoi Photographic. In this book, he also wants readers to feel the soul and ups and downs of Hanoi through 12 separate photo chapters.
That is Hanoi with a thousand years of culture with the ancient image of Thang Long Imperial Citadel, or Co Loa ancient citadel with its elaborate stone carvings and sculptures. Or the miniature beauty of Europe through the typical French architecture with the image of the Cathedral, the Opera House, the Presidential Palace, ancient villas... and especially the image of the bridge over 100 years old - Long Bien Bridge. Marcus also devoted a chapter to bring the image of famous craft villages of Hanoi and the life of the people here into the book such as Duong Lam ancient village, Tay Tuu flower village, Bat Trang pottery village, Do paper making village...
During his time traveling to the traditional villages of Hanoi, Marcus had the opportunity to admire the artisans making do paper in Dong Ho ancient village and was extremely impressed with this special paper material. Marcus shared that unlike the popular photo printing papers nowadays, do paper has no gloss and reflection, the images printed on do paper show very good and effective depth. That is why he chose do paper as one of the materials to print his works.
The launching ceremony of the photo book Hanoi Photographic by Marcus Lacey was held on the evening of October 25, 2018 in a warm, gentle space of a small bar on the windy West Lake. Those who attended this launching ceremony and mini exhibition of Marcus had a great time admiring the image of Hanoi, both modern and ancient, both friendly and very thoughtful.
The proceeds from the sale of the works will be used by Marcus for charity activities to help poor children. In the future, Marcus is planning to conquer the Northwest roads with some friends, and who knows, Vietnam's nature may become a source of inspiration for Marcus to publish more photo books.
