These full color photographs are indeed archetypal images to anyone familiar with Vietnam. The book is divided roughly into five geographic regions and covers all aspects of daily life from rural areas to urban traffic jams.

Hans Kemp was born in the Netherlands in 1962. He bought his first camera (a Nikon FE) at the age of 16. He learned darkroom and lighting techniques from photography courses given by a local photographer but it wasn't until he started his travels that his photography really took off.

While based in Hong Kong, Hans published stories in the South China Morning Post Sunday Magazine, Asiaweek, Thai Airlines' Sawasdee, Japan's Asahigraph Magazine and others in Europe and Asia.

His first visit to Vietnam was back in 1991. He liked it and returned frequently to travel and take photos In 1994, he started to use his photography on postcards. "A year later I moved my base to Saigon. Since then my photographs of Vietnam have appeared on many postcards and calendars and in the book Postcards from Vietnam." Besides traveling around Vietnam taking photos that can be used on cards and calendars, Hans does commercial assignments for advertising and annual reports, both in Vietnam and elsewhere.

See also Hans Kemp's new book Bikes of Burden