Horst Faas’ Camera: Weapon of Mass Deconstruction

Saigon Execution by Eddie Adams

Respected Associated Press (AP) picture editor Horst Faas has passed away, aged 79.

Recognised as a fearless and unwavering war photographer, for more than half a century he influenced generations of photographers and unrelentingly carved new standards for covering war.

Even though I learnt of his name mere moments ago, I am compelled to pay tribute to him because he shaped my life, specifically, my perspective on life.

My father’s library consisted mostly of books on the Vietnam War. From a young age I had access to volumes on social injustices during war, dissertations on poor military strategy and, profoundly, book upon book containing haunting images of that sad war.

The most memorable images are known with the simplest of descriptions: Napalm Girl, Saigon Execution and ‘War is Hell’ Soldier. These photos are famous, renowned, vastly significant; they exist in the public consciousness because of Faas.

Napalm Girl by Nick Ut

Having said that, whilst I thought they were universally known, in year 8 when I showed these images to my class during a presentation, the faces of my fellow early teenage students turned grey and their eyes bulged. They had not seen the photos before.

The impact was palpable; boys who were too cool for school or thrived on machismo gasped, put hand to mouth and looked away. A collective innocence was lost that day – one that I perhaps never had being the child of Vietnamese boat people.

Faas was chief of the AP in Saigon from the early ’60s to his departure in the mid ’70s. He commanded an army of photographers and demanded that they always ‘come back with good pictures’. His work in Vietnam garnered him a Pultizer (his first of two).

Wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade in ’67 he become desk bound but continued to work tirelessly to bring the war into people’s awareness. He mentored Nick Ut who took the photo of the Napalm Girl. He had the guts to push through Eddie Adams’ image of Saigon Execution.

Over 70 journalists lost their lives covering the Vietnam War and Faas almost bled to death in Bu Dop, yet, he survived to build a legacy that has changed the world. Indeed, few people leave this world having made so many marks.

‘War is Hell’ Soldier by Horst Faas

‘War is Hell’ Solider is the Mona Lisa of modern times and is testament to Faas’ ability to arrest our attention instantly. Here is a beautiful young man, his eyes longingly look at us as if he is begging us for love and a chance to escape from the hateful weapon he must wield in his hands.

Faas and his team turned the tide on the Vietnam War. Technological advances in the way images could be captured and transmitted rapidly meant for the first time in history, the world was seeing war as it happened. It made many queasy and I dare say was the catalyst for mass protest against war.

Determination, courage and vision; the next time I raise my Canon I will pause for a moment to pay my respects to this great man. May his army forevermore wield the most powerful weapon in war; the camera – weapon of mass deconstruction.

10 Ways to Shake Up Your Life

Pie in the sky thinking does take you places!

Sometimes, just to shake things up, I like to do something that’s a bit different, a bit unusual. Here’s ten things I’ve done in the last year that you may like to give a go too.

Meet up with someone from Twitter
Remember, a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met!

Travel far and wide
Travel, travel, travel, and see all those places you’ve always wanted to. Go as far and as long as possible.

Give a new city a go
 Live in a new city – get down and dirty with the locals; talk to them, drink with them, dance with them.

Try the local delicacies
Eat weird food! Duck embryo, snake, rat, tortoise, dog, scorpion, cricket – I’ve tried it all, even British ‘pie and mash’.

Talk to randoms
My conversations often start with a really lame opening line, but often lead to wonderful new friendships.

Take the 100 Things Challenge
Can you live your life with only 100 things? You can live with less and still feel rich.

Deeply and profoundly believe in yourself
When I remind myself ‘I deeply and profoundly believe in myself’ – challenges that only seconds ago scared me become totally doable.

Face your worst fears
Sometimes you not knowing if you can succeed becomes a great motivator; cowardice can lead to courage.

Give a tourist a tour of a city you’ve just arrived in
Taking the lead means you do things that you’ll be more inquisitive, daring and bold.

Share yourself
Wearing my heart on my sleeve was scary at first, but the rewards are great when you share with others.

Back to Zero – The 100 Things Challenge

Back to Zero is a philosophy of mine that made it possible for me to travel the world living out of a 26L bag without debt and without fear of failure.

Freedom and independence is important to me and there is certainly joyful feeling I get when I zip past lumbering giants shouldering 150 litre backpacks at airports.

Recently though, when I moved apartments in London I realised I’d begun accumulating again. My hereditary genes of hoarding were trying to take hold. I’d been lured by the ‘shiny’ in Singapore, ‘cheap’ in Hong Kong, ‘cheap-cheap’ in Vietnam, ‘designer’ in Seoul and ‘stately’ in London. More luxuries than necessities in my life? This could not be!

Coming to my rescue was this 100 Things Challenge article. I did a stocktake and pared my life once again down to the bare. I counted one hundred and ten. Not bad. If I donate ten more things, I’ll happily gain another ‘zero’.

Best French Songs of the 1960s

You may thing this odd – I don’t speak French and I am way too young to know these songs.

But these are the songs of my childhood. French music was still influential and very much enjoyed in ’60s South Vietnam. Songs from this era were ‘carried over’ to Melbourne by my family and I heard them almost every day growing up. It must have reminded my folks of happier times.

Recently, in Saigon I was in a lovely cafe which controversially had a playlist of exclusively French songs from pre-Communist days. It somehow felt like home. It was there that I penned this list of French favourites:

La Boheme – Charles Aznavour (1965)
An easy start. This is a masterpiece of French chanson and the man’s signature song for a reason – it’s brilliant!

Le Temps De L’amour – Francoise Hardy (1962)
Sung by one of the world’s most beautiful women, then and now. Many 60′s Vietnamese singers have emulated her sound (because it’s a gorgeous).

La Plus Belle Pour Aller Danser – Sylvie Vartan (1963)
The string riff is sublime; dat-dat-dah-duh (dut-dut-dut-dut). It was a big hit in Vietnam and there is a fantastic cover in French and Vietnamese by Thanh Lan.

L’amour Est Bleu – Vicky Leandros (1967)
One of the most recognisable songs in the world thanks to the Paul Mauriat orchestra cover. There is a melancholy bliss in the original that Mauriat misses. My favourite Leandros is Apres Toi from 1972.

Capri C’est Fini – Herve Vilard (1965)
Recorded when he was only 19, Vilard was uber cute (in a Ferris Bueller kind of way) and suffering from a broken heart. Ah, young love; I’m sure he got over it!

La Nuit – Salvatore Adamo (1964)
Adamo has an unmistakable voice. When he modulates the ‘uuooo’ it sends pleasurable shivers down the spine. Another fav is Mes Mains Sur Tes Hanches with the catchy la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la (yes, that’s 9 la’s). 

Garde-moi La Derniere Danse - Dalida (1961)
This song is fine, but I’m adding Dalida just so I can mention her song with Alain Delon Paroles, Paroles from 1973 (it was played at every single family gathering!).

Aline – Christophe (1965)
This song has been doing the dance remix circuit since the late 90′s, bizarre, but it goes to show that a good song can go a long, long way!

Et Maintenant – Gilbert Becaud (1961)
Before Shirley Bassey got her delicious chops on this hit (aka What Now My Love), Gilbert ‘Monsieur 100,000 Volts’ Becaud was already raking in gagillions in royalties for his recording in French.

Dans Le Temps – Petula Clark (1965)
Last but not least, I could not be a gay man and talk about ’60s music without paying tribute to the fabulous Petula Clark (and who doesn’t love Downtown?!).

A Brief History of Vietnam

They say ‘history is written by the winners’.

I have difficulty finding decent resources on past Vietnamese leaders, because of this adage. Vietnamese history has undergone so many rewrites under various regimes that it’s sometimes difficult to pick the heros and villains of Vietnamese culture. Even gods and goddesses fall in and out of favour depending on the government of the day.

Vietnamese people are a hardy and resilient; in the blood of my people is the lineage of centuries of accomplishment through hardship. We have defeated Imperial China (twice), stopped the Mongol hordes at our doorstep (twice) and taken on the greatest world powers of their time including the French, Japanese and Americans.

While every time we have retained our country, each battle and war sees part of history destroyed. Also during the period in which we are dominated by the stronger power, our culture is eroded. Raiders pillage treasures; reformers burn libraries and ‘defenders’ bomb cities from above.

Also, of the remaining books, publications could suffer from poor translation from old Chu Nom script (based on Ancient Chinese) to modern Vietnamese; even poorer translation from Vietnamese to English; or worse rewrites to suit a contemporary political agenda. Truly, history is written by the winners.

How Do You Measure A Year?

This year many of my life long dreams came true.

I’ve had many people say “oh, you’re so lucky” because I’ve spent 6 months travelling, free from work. I have a standard response to that compliment now, borrowed from Walt Disney;

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

Well, it’s the time of year that people compile best of lists, and so too have I. I want to share the important moments of the last 12 months. I am pretty lucky to be living my dreams, but remember you can be too. Just believe in yourself and your ability to make the impossible possible.

January

My personal theory of ‘Back to Zero’ took me to a space of exponential growth. Having planned for three years, I found myself financially free, my professional and private life was balanced, and having rejected material possessions I was unburdened. I had the means to live my dreams. I also unlocked the door to healing and began recovering from the sex abuse I survived as a child (survivor, not victim).

February

I vividly remember the hot, sexy man sidling up to me, shaking my hand while staring deep into my eyes. I almost spontaneously cumbusted when I met and interviewed porn star Brent Corrigan at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. As a bonus, I also made it onto his website. Oh yah, I’m on a porn website (check it out here)!

I almost didn't recognise him with his clothes on!

March

A two year radio project came to a natural end. One of my last interviews for my program The Fool and The Opera was with world renowned conductor Richard Bonynge. I was deeply moved when he also invited to attend a masterclass. It was a great honour.

April

I helped co-ordinate Australia’s first same sex formal for Minus18. I spoke with a girl who told me she was so excited because her girlfriend couldn’t go to her ‘real’ school formal, but they were coming our event together. During the formal, when performer Jessie Upton sang acoustic Somewhere Over The Rainbow the two girls, in tuxedos, slow danced. I cried over how utterly beautiful it was.

May

I farewelled the folks of JOY 94.9, the gay and lesbian community radio station that I’d worked at for over 5 years.  I remember when I joined I was an over-eager young kid of little more than 21. It was the right time to leave because I learnt all that I could and I was aching for new adventures. I left the station, still, an over-eager young kid.

Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke - Lynda Barry

June

My media mentor Addam Stobbs passed away and my world was a little sadder. At Addam’s funeral, I held hands with my dear friends Petro and Micah and I remember never wanting to let go. I know it’s from Addam’s lessons that I’ve drawn my most powerful quote, “Gays don’t deserve tolerance. We deserve respect, equality and love.”

July

I hopped on a A380 with my eye on the horizon. Over five months I saw Singaporean soldiers dance in formation, re-learnt to speak and write Vietnamese, sat in on a real Japanese tea ceremony in Tokyo, kitted myself out in hot Korean clothes, walked along the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and met a British prince.

September

I celebrated my 27th birthday by flying to Tokyo. My happiest moment was hearing the sound of the cicadas and warning alarms at a local train station. The sounds were exactly as they are in the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, the very show that made me fall in love with Japan when I was a mere teen. It took over a decade, but I made it to Tokyo.

October

On the tenth hour of the tenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year, at an outdoor cafe near Hoan Kiem Lake in flawless deep-southern accent Vietnamese, I ordered drinks for my southern American friends. Some I’d met days earlier, others that very day, but we had one thing in common, we were there to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime festivities for Hanoi’s 1000th birthday.

November

When I was 12 I pretended I was born in Britain and had a posh accent. I’ve always wanted to be part of the world of David Attenborough, Blackadder and Bond (more recently Skins, Harry Potter and Bond). Now, I can happily proclaim I live in the city where it all happens; London.

December

Sitting in a production meeting at my new job, my heart skipped a beat when a colleague mentioned ‘BBC World Service’ and again when I saw a household name from British TV and Hollywood show pop up in my email. I find myself working for a major UK media producer with very recognisable names. I’m still amazed by this!

The Hoberman sphere is impressive when open, similarly your heart is most impressive when open to your dreams.

Đồng Tính Luyến Ái Project – Part 3

I’ve drawn up a wish list of people I would like to interview or discuss as part of the gay Vietnamese programme:

• Andrew Lam – contemporary Vietnamese / American gay author
• Huy Can – historical gay poet and communist
• Van Darkholme – contemporary Vietnamese / American porn actor
• Gay Vietnamese Alliance – American-based support organisation
• Xuan Dieu – historical gay poet and communist
• Song That – long term gay radio program broadcast from San Jose
• Nguyen Tan Hoang – contemporary Vietnamese / American media maker

I’m also very interested in speaking with prominent gay Asian author Benjamin Law after my friend Jojo pointed out that he is writing a book on gaysia (see his article The Discontent of Gaysia).

How to Make Good Radio

Addam Stobbs, my media teacher, taught me the essential do’s and don’ts of radio.

He taught me how to connect with the listener, how to present things in an interesting manner and, most importantly, how to stop the crap chat. Here are some rules I vividly remember:

• As the Boy Scouts say, “be prepared”. Preparation is the key to a good program. If you find yourself unprepared during a show, its better to play another song than to talk off the cuff, because you’ll end up in the ‘crap chat’ zone – and defamation lives there.
• Radio is magic, so don’t reveal the ‘trick’. Avoid saying “I’m loading a CD into the player” because you’ll expose the ‘scaffolding’ and listeners just want to hear the song. Don’t mention mistakes, it draws more attention to something that otherwise would have been ignored – just keep on going with the show.
• Why say “welcome back”? Where did the listener go? No where, you’re the only one who ‘went away’.
• Don’t take negative feedback and messages personally. Take positive and constructive feedback on board, but if it’s an unsolicited insult, delete it and move on.
• Do talk to the listener; talk to your one listener. People are often alone when listening, so address them personally. If you say “all you out there in radioland”, you will alieniate listeners, instead make the most of the privilege you have of talking to the listener one on one. Create an intimate connection with the listener.
• Wear your heart on your sleeve. By showing emotion you give something for people to respond to. When you give the listener insight into your life or opinions, they can agree and empathise with or disagree and challenge you.
• Be yourself. In the words of Oscar Wilde, “be yourself, everyone else is already taken”.

Fear of Freedom

I find it deliciously ironic that I was robbed at Lenin Square in Hanoi.

One day in Vietnam, I switched off all my online profiles.

My Facebook, Twitter and other online profiles were made private, suspended or deleted. It seems a bit melodramatic, but at the time I was petrified. I think it’s a bit silly actually, because looking back, I can declare with certainty that:

• I have never made any comments of a seditious nature against the Vietnamese Government
• I have never participated in any acts of dissidence against the Vietnamese Government
• I have not joined any groups with an interest in overthrowing the Vietnamese Government

So why did I panic and go underground?

It comes back to what used to be my ‘greatest fear’; to be lost in a foreign country with no job, no money, no contacts.

My wallet was stolen in Hanoi and I thought everything was fine (I froze my cards, had emergency cash and my precious passport), but things got weird when I was emailed by a ‘concerned mother’ who wanted to return my wallet. It was an obvious (and common) scam and I knew better than to fall prey.

I made it clear I wasn’t going to hand over my cash, but they started to harass me on Facebook. That’s when I freaked out. The blackmailers were one degree of separation away from my blogs and twitter. In my wallet was also my hotel card and my Australian address. My online and physical presence was known.

I was worried about my tweets because they could have been misinterpreted. In Australia we challenge the status quo as we wish, but in Vietnam there is no such thing as peaceful dissidence and one does not simply challenge the the Government.

Despite many young Vietnamese telling me ‘do as you wish here, it’s a free country’ there is a big difference to the Australian interpretation of the word ‘freedom’.

Having said that, the need to be careful of what you tweet is not just something you should be wary of in the East. In London there have been two cases of arrest and prosecution over a Tweet. All over the world it seems like freedom of speech is fast fading.

Dan Vogue 101 – The Basics

By The Rivers of Vinh Long (sung to the tune of Rivers of Babylon)

It’s time for an introduction!

The basics are; I’m Melbourne born, 27 years old, of Southern Vietnamese heritage (I speak Viet with a heavy Can Tho accent) and was born in the year of the pig (my oinker traits are loyalty, honesty and stubborn optimism).

I studied marketing at the University of Melbourne and worked in radio at JOY 94.9. I love photography, writing and drawing. I rock climb for the mental challenge, tinker on the piano to annoy others and my obsession is international food; I love weird foods from different cuisine cultures (eg. scorpion, rat, tortoise, dog, snake, etc.).

I adapt quickly and often find myself guiding fellow travellers in towns I’ve only just set foot in. Ironically, I have no internal compass and you’ll often find me with rotating maps to match the direction I am facing (thank goodness the iPhone solved this problem, now you’ll find me constantly figure-eighting my phone).

Six months ago, I quit my job and prepared to set sail for the world. Three months ago, I left my home to tour the world with my heart set on seeing Saigon, Tokyo, Seoul, London, Paris and Rome (as a bare minimum). With no return ticket, I plan on travelling for at least 2 years.

So far, I’ve seen Singapore, Tokyo and the entire coastline of Vietnam. Next week, I’ll fly into Seoul, Hong Kong then London. The most magical thing of all is to see the same sun set in different cities (and clouds seem different everywhere I go).

Up until recently, my greatest phobia was to be in a foreign country with no friends, job or money (my parents are immigrants to I think I inherited this from them). When my wallet was pinched in Hanoi I was forced to face that fear, and walk into it.

Before I left Melbourne, I was interested in a guy my friends nicknamed ‘North-West’. He checked to see if I’d be a suitable boyfriend by asking me for a list of 10 things that make me great. I wrote one, but didn’t share it with him because I felt he should discover it for himself.

Yesterday when I re-read the list I laughed at how ‘inside the square’ my life once was. I wouldn’t write those 10 things now. I don’t think I could be restricted to 10 either –  I need 101, or even more! I guess while travelling, what I’ve learnt is to trust and believe in myself.

I am who I am, and that makes me happy.