A British photographer's love for Hanoi.

For Marcus, photography is a hobby, a job, and also a way for him to preserve images of the places he has traveled to. The beauty of Hanoi is like a precious gem to Marcus; despite the rapid changes in 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 selected nearly 200 of his favorites to include in his photo book, Hanoi Photographic. In this book, he also wants viewers to feel the soul and the ups and downs of Hanoi through 12 separate chapters of photographs.

This is Hanoi, a city with a thousand years of cultural heritage, with the ancient image of Thang Long Imperial Citadel, or the ancient Co Loa citadel with its intricate stone carvings and sculptures. Or the miniature beauty of Europe through the characteristic French architecture with images of the Grand Cathedral, the Grand Opera House, the Presidential Palace, old villas… and especially the image of the more than 100-year-old Long Bien Bridge. Marcus also dedicates an entire chapter to bringing the images of Hanoi's famous craft villages and the lives of its people into the book, such as Duong Lam ancient village, Tay Tuu flower village, Bat Trang pottery village, and Do paper-making village…

During his travels to Hanoi's traditional villages, Marcus had the opportunity to admire the artisans crafting dó paper in the ancient village of Dong Ho and was deeply impressed by this unique material. Marcus shared that, unlike the common photo paper used today, dó paper has no gloss or reflectivity, and images printed on it convey depth very well and effectively. Therefore, he chose dó paper as one of the materials for printing his artwork.

The launch ceremony for Marcus Lacey's photo book, *Hanoi Photographic*, was held on the evening of October 25, 2018, in the warm and inviting atmosphere of a small bar by the breezy West Lake. Attendees at the launch and mini-exhibition had a wonderful time admiring images of Hanoi – a city that is both modern and ancient, friendly yet contemplative.

The proceeds from the sale of his artworks will be used by Marcus for charitable activities to help underprivileged children. In the future, Marcus plans to conquer the Northwest region of Vietnam with some friends, and who knows, the natural beauty of Vietnam might become the inspiration for him to publish more photo books.

Phuong Ngoc