John Ramsden worked for the British Embassy in Hanoi between 1980 -1982, when the country was completely isolated and impoverished after decades of war.
In his spare time he explored the city and its surroundings. He found a city of great character, far from the Asian Sparta of wartime stereotypes. His photographs record a way of life as yet untouched by globalisation. The life of the streets, markets, temples and surrounding villages is portrayed in images of wistful beauty.
Thirty years later John finally took his photographs out of storage, for a small exhibition at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath, to celebrate the 2010 Millennium of Hanoi.
In May 2013 there was a larger exhibition in London: Hanoi Spirit of Place, organised by Vietpro and KREU, two groups from the Vietnamese community.
In October 2013 the exhibition moved to Hanoi where it generated huge interest.
This led in October 2016 to a book published in Vietnamese only – ‘Hanoi Mot Thoi’ (ed. Nha Nam).
‘Hanoi after the War’, published in 2018 by Skira, is a completely revised and expanded version, adapted to the needs of an international readership. A French edition was published in 2020 by Magellan & Cie.
The exhibitions and the book have been made possible by the generous support of Trân Trọng Kiên, founder and CEO of the Thien Minh Group.
The entire archive has been donated to the Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO) and is available to view on their website.
Hanoi After the War 