Vietnam – SINCERELY, DR. DAN

Guest Photographer: Steve Roth

English version, Guest Photographers/ Fotógrafos Invitados

The second in my series of “Guest Photographers” is Steve Roth, a fellow member of the Boynton Beach Camera Club. I have had the privilege of being a member in BBCC since 2015 when I retired from practicing pediatrics. Since I have learned so much from the club about improving my photographic skills, I decided to feature the amazing accomplishments of other members.

In his previous professional life, Steve was an architect in the Miami area. He grew up in New York but came down to Miami in the mid-1960s. He moved to Palm Beach County in 2007 and in addition to photography, remains active playing golf.

When Steve sent me 15 of his favorite images to choose my favorites, I found it to be a difficult task. His style displays precision editing with attention to the finest detail in his use of natural light.

“Beautiful Dahlia” shows off the details of the petals of a slightly off-white flower. It is often difficult to maintain perfect focus in a close-up of a flower, but Steve pulls it off very well.

“Mother and Child” was taken in Bali. The macaques freely roaming throughout the island are excellent subjects. I love this portrait of the mother with her baby clinging to her because both are staring straight at the photographer.

Steve’s capture of the vendor in the “Thai Floating Market” shows his ability to physically position himself to achieve the utmost photographic impact.

His image of the “Vietnamese Flower Girl” catches the warmth of a typical street scene with the brightly colored flowers offsetting the pure whiteness of her dress.

In “Mother and New Arrival,” Steve has caught the newly hatched heron chick under the careful eye of his mother.

My favorite picture from Steve’s portfolio is his portrait of a Cambodian girl in her schoolroom. This image, taken with available light through an open window, tells a beautiful story of a student’s attention to her teacher.

Steve wins many of the monthly competitions in our camera club. He consistently deserves the highest scores and is constantly showing us his full range of photographic subjects.

I want to thank Steve Roth for allowing me to interview him for my blog. My next guest photographer will be Herb Zaifert.

El Abanico Chino

Versión en español

Este tipo de historia me parece que me suceden a menudo.

En uno de nuestros últimos días en Valencia, España, donde mi esposa Meryl y yo habíamos pasado el verano, regresábamos de las compras de última hora en el famoso Mercado Central, uno de nuestros lugares favoritos de la ciudad.

A las 11 de la mañana, como ya eran 88 grados (31 ° C), decidimos tomar el autobús de regreso a nuestro apartamento. Tuvimos la suerte de conseguir asientos porque el autobús # 32 es el que viaja desde el centro histórico del centro a través de nuestro barrio y luego hacia las playas del Mediterráneo.

Sentado inmediatamente frente a nosotros estaba un hombre asiático mayor que se abanicaba con un abanico extrañamente interesante, pero no como los abanicos habituales que usan las mujeres españolas en los días calurosos. Tenía pinturas de rosas inusuales en el frente y letras chinas en la parte posterior.

Cuando el autobús se llenó, una señora mayor abordó el autobús y el hombre asiático movió sus paquetes para permitirle sentarse a su lado.

Ella admiró a su fan, primero determinando que entendía español. Después de reconocer que hablaba español, inmediatamente le ofreció el abanico. Al principio, ella se negó cortésmente, pero él insistió. Por su reacción se notaba que iba a atesorar este regalo de un perfecto extraño.

sUnos minutos más tarde, el hombre asiático le indicó al conductor que se bajaba en la siguiente parada, que resultó ser nuestra parada. Como llevaba unas bolsas muy pesadas de comestibles de un mercado chino, me ofrecí a ayudarlo.

Cuando bajábamos del autobús, ¡él procedió a contarme la historia de toda su vida!

Tenía 72 años, era originario de Saigón, Vietnam, pero había escapado en barco durante la guerra de Vietnam a Hong Kong. Había emigrado a España hace 24 años por unos amigos chinos. Si bien hay muchos chinos en España, nos explicó que había muy pocos vietnamitas en España porque la mayoría de ellos terminaron eligiendo Francia cuando salieron de Asia. Esto se debe en parte a la conexión histórica de Francia y Vietnam.

Nuestro amigo nos dijo que tiene varias hijas, una de las cuales trabaja con su esposa en su salón de manicura, que está justo enfrente de nuestro apartamento.

Después de que lo ayudamos a llevar sus paquetes a su apartamento, que estaba a unas cinco cuadras en la dirección opuesta a nosotros, nos invitó a subir. Me sorprendió que Meryl me acompañara tan de buena gana, ya que ella suele ser mucho más cautelosa que yo con los extraños. Nos ofreció agua, té y galletas y luego se acercó a un armario al otro lado de la habitación y sacó algunas cosas para mostrarnos.

“Un ventilador para cada uno de ustedes”. Continuó dándonos a cada uno una hermosa camisa y pantalones chinos de seda.

“Mis regalos para ti”, explicó en un español con mucho acento, “por ayudarme tan bien”. Nos sentamos a conversar y nos contó la historia de cómo había llegado a Valencia.

Cuando salimos de su apartamento, caminó con nosotros de regreso a nuestro vecindario porque quería que conociéramos a su esposa e hija en su tienda de uñas. Mientras estuvo allí, nuevamente nos agradeció efusivamente por ayudarlo. Nosotros, a su vez, le dijimos cuánto disfrutamos de la experiencia de conocerlo y cuánto apreciamos nuestros regalos inesperados.

Ojalá esta experiencia no hubiera sucedido en uno de nuestros últimos días en Valencia. Me hubiera gustado conocer mejor a nuestro nuevo amigo.

The Chinese Fan

English version

This kind of story often seems to happen to me.

On one of our last days in Valencia, Spain where my wife, Meryl, and I had spent the summer, we were returning from last-minute shopping at the famous Central Market, one of our favorite spots in the city.

At 11 am, since it was already 88 degrees (31° C), we decided to take the bus back to our apartment. We were lucky to get seats because the #32 bus is the one which travels from the downtown historic area through our neighborhood and then on toward the Mediterranean beaches.

Sitting immediately in front of us was an older Asian man who was fanning himself with a strangely interesting fan, but not like the usual abanicos that are used by Spanish women on hot days. It had unusual rose paintings on the front and Chinese lettering on the back.

As the bus filled up, an older lady boarded the bus and the Asian man moved his packages to allow her to sit next to him.

She admired his fan, first determining that he understood Spanish. After acknowledging that he spoke Spanish, he immediately offered her the fan. At first, she refused politely, but he insisted. You could tell by her reaction that she was going to treasure this gift from a perfect stranger.

A few minutes later, the Asian man signaled to the driver that he was getting off at the next stop which happened to be our stop. Since he was carrying some very heavy bags of groceries from a Chinese market, I offered to help him.

As we were getting off the bus, he proceeded to tell me his whole life story!

He was 72 years old, originally from Saigon, Viet Nam but had escaped by boat during the Viet Nam war to Hong Kong. He had emigrated to Spain 24 years ago because of some Chinese friends. While there are many Chinese people in Spain, he explained to us that there were very few Vietnamese people in Spain because most of them wound up choosing France as they left Asia. This is partly because of the historical connection of France and Vietnam.

Our friend told us that he has several daughters, one of whom works with his wife in their nail salon which was directly across the street from our apartment.

After we helped him bring his packages to his apartment which was about five blocks in the opposite direction from us, he invited us upstairs. I was surprised that Meryl went along with me so willingly since she is usually much more cautious than I am with strangers. He offered us water, tea and cookies and then he walked over to a cabinet on the other side of the room and took out some things to show us.

“One fan for each of you.” He continued by giving us each a beautiful silk Chinese shirt and pants.

“My gift to you,” he explained in very heavily accented Spanish, “for helping me so nicely.” We sat and talked and he gave us details about how he had fled Saigon in the late 70s during the boat crisis and how he had lived in Hong Kong for several years before coming to Spain.

As we left his apartment, he walked with us back to our neighborhood because he wanted us to meet his wife and daughter at their nail shop. While there, he again thanked us effusively for helping him. We in turn told him how much we enjoyed the experience of meeting him and how much we appreciated our unexpected gifts.

I wish that this experience wouldn’t have happened on one of our last days in Valencia. I would have liked to have gotten to know our new friend better.