FRALIN, HUONG » Uncategorized

In memory

Huong — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 01:53:59 +0000

I remember the goosebumps I got while trying to fight back the tears when he told the story about the time he witnessed American soldiers in Iraq shooting at a car when the car didn’t stop after warning shots were fired. And the overwhelming and sad sense of emotion I heard in his voice when he continued by describing finding the two people who were in the front seats, dead, and the five children of those two people screaming in the back seat, covered in their mother and father’s blood. It would be one of those scenes where I could sense what was coming and have enough time to look away from the movie screen so that I wouldn’t have the visual memory. But this was real life, and I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it was to see and photograph such an event.

Chris Hondros, the man who took said photographs and shared this story, died yesterday in Misrata, Libya as did fellow photojournalist Tim Hetherington. Two other photographers, Guy Martin and Michael Christopher Brown were wounded in the same shelling attack.

Though I never knew Chris personally, I was incredibly inspired by him and what he did … for giving voices to those who didn’t have them. I couldn’t understand why there was such a sadness in me after reading about his death. We didn’t even know each other personally. And yet I feel like I’ve experienced a loss. Maybe it’s the attachment I felt from the inspiration that his life’s work fed me that makes it seem personal. Whatever it is, I feel it.

Chris told us in the barn at the Eddie Adams Workshop about his experience as a war photographer. He wasn’t cocky or acting like a hot shot; I remember how humble he was, and honest. And knowing that he was an alumni of the same workshop that I was going through at that very moment really really gave me hope (for myself). Which I know I have written about a thousand times.

I fully regret not getting to know Chris better when I had the chance, especially since I was invited to a few of his legendary parties when I lived in NYC. I don’t know why I never went but can imagine that being incredibly intimidated was probably a factor.

Anyway. I guess this is my way of sharing his legacy. And not keeping whatever it is bottled inside. If you didn’t know about him, now you do.

The story on the events and their death can be read here. And here is a blog post by C.J. Chivers, a Times reporter who is working in Libya, about the events leading to how they got Chris and Tim headed home. The post by C.J. is obviously a more personal account.

Vanity Fair’s editor said this of Tim which I’m sure could also be true of Chris: “We’re just devastated here. But he lived for this. And this sort of thing did not faze him. It’s what gave him life, and it’s what took it away from him.”

Images that Chris took hours before his death: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/chris-hondros-at-work-in-libya/

A beautiful letter: Sebastian Juger Remembers Tim Hetherington

Much love and condolences to Chris’ fiancée, family and friends and Tim’s as well. Prayers for the safety of Michael Christopher Brown and for Guy Martin who is still in critical condition.

Sundown

Huong — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 00:59:35 +0000

48/365

Craddock Creek Marina

Huong — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 02:04:47 +0000

42/365

For the record

Huong — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 04:59:25 +0000

25/365

The lovely Andrea of Andrea Despot Photography and The Lighthouse Keeper came to visit and we enjoyed a day full of photos, book stores, antiques, caffeine and good food. It was an unusually gorgeous day which put me in a great mood but it had also been a while since I’ve been on a lady date and it was lots of fun :) She and I had met once for coffee when she was in town for a meeting but before then we were just flickr/blog friends. And now we’re real-life friends! More images from the day can be found on flickr.

New York, New York

Huong — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 05:21:41 +0000

It was cold from the blistery wind but warm with the laughter, smiles and embracing hugs from friends I hadn’t seen in way too long. The annual pilgrimage to my third home was made this past week, and though my father thought we were absolutely nuts for taking a vacation in December to a place much colder than where we hailed, it was totally worth it. Though I do see his point :)

Also, I took the plunge (while dancing my way to the end of the diving board) and finally purchased the Canon 5D Mark II (!!!). This baby COMPLETELY changes the photo game for me and I could not be more content with the investment. I know it’s not about the camera and that it’s about the photographer … but I’d be lying if I said this piece of beauty didn’t make my job a gazillion times easier. And beautifuler. Can’t wait to start experimenting with the video functions as well, but for now, I’m still trying to get used to the backwardness of the buttons and barrels compared to Nikons. I read the entire manual on our train-ride to NYC (I received the camera the night before) and wasn’t bored in the least bit. I still love Nikons and will never ever give up my FE2 but the new toy definitely brings me a bundle of joy.

The New York leg of the trip basically consisted of me getting my fix of Vietnamese cuisine and bubble tea. And steamed pork buns and $1 bags of sweet chinese cakes from the street cart on the south end of Canal Street. And bacon-wrapped hot dogs with fried eggs and cheese (together, in a bun). And dim sum in a gigantic banquet room with several hundred others. I fell straight back into the groove of walking several miles, subway hopping and car-dodging (the yellow ones don’t stop), only this time my heart didn’t break as we left. I don’t think I was quite ready to move back to Roanoke that cold snowy day two years ago, but I am definitely blessed with a husband and home and job that I probably wouldn’t have, had I not left.

On sort of the same note:

“Life is full of choices if you have the guts to go for it. That’s why I get immediately bored with anyone’s complaining about how boring their life is, or how bad their town is. Fucking leave and go somewhere else. Or don’t.” —Henry Rollins

Pardon the french but I don’t think you’d get the same je ne sais quoi without it. (Pun totally intended.) To my friend who was venting about your job and knowing what you have to do but willingly deciding not to do it … that one’s for you. In the most loving way possible.

I have mucho updates to make on the website so keep an eye out for that if you’re interested. Meanwhile, check out some of my latest photo inspirations:
Miha Matei Photography

Norman Jean Roy

Daniel Weisser

And I have a Pinterest account for other likes and loves.

Oh … the photo above is of my friend KnitKnit in her apartment/studio space in Brooklyn. While some may say it’s a horrible picture that’s out-of-focus, this one jumped out at me as I was making my edits. I think she looks timeless here though you can barely make out how she really looks at all. Maybe that’s exactly why I love it. She could be any woman.

At The Drive-In

Huong — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 03:03:09 +0000

MONETA, VA

“I think in art, but especially in films, people are trying to confirm their own existences.”
— Jim Morrison

Priceless Bargains

Huong — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:56:19 +0000

Tonight we tore apart our big closet in the second bedroom, unstacked and ransacked each plastic tub in search of the velcro dividers for my camera bag. We did this twice which reminded me why you should never do things half-assed the first time around. We never found the dividers, but I did stumble upon this gem which was hiding in the midst of empty electronic device boxes and a William Byrd High School terrier mascot.

When we were in college, Jeff and I spent a lot of time antiquing and going to yard sales. I found this camera case (and land camera) with the Roanoke Airport travel tag attached and it was love at first sight as I have a fondness for both Polaroid and old travel stickers/tags/boarding passes/etc and suitcases. I haven’t been to a yard sale, Goodwill or antique store in a while but I have to say that some of my most special things were found in these unlikely places. My absolute favorite camera in the whole wide world that I’ve taken my best photos with, the Nikon FE2 was purchased for just $20 at Goodwill (although I tossed the lens it came with). I also found this crazy looking flash bracket and bought an enlarger with developing trays and easel at a garage sale for way cheap which I used to set up a darkroom in my bathroom in college. Unfortunately my bathroom was way too small to be used as a darkroom on a regular basis but I hope that in our future home, we’ll have a space large and dark and ventilated enough for me to re-indulge in the dying art.

I’m still on the hunt for a medium format film camera like a Hasselblad, Mamiya or Rollie and of course a new digital Canon system (I’m almost there!). I also want a puppy. But that’s a whole ‘nother story. Know of any good sites to check out? I used to visit shopgoodwill.com for old cameras all the time and I’m a little iffy about ebay. Also, the craigslist for Roanoke is a joke (at least for photo-related stuff).

Chatting With Longbrake

Huong — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:39:39 +0000

Seattle to Roanoke and vice versa.

I have a blog and can post whatever I want.

Check Out Our Flavors

Huong — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:15:38 +0000

As Jeff so eloquently put it, we’ve now made it easier for you to cyber-stalk us. With flavors.me pages we can consolidate all of our social networking sites into one site and feed all of our updates to it. I think it’s a great idea. One flaw we’ve found is that the background image sometimes won’t load to fit the size of your browser when you first load the page but if you resize the window it prompts the image to fit the way it’s supposed to. And we’ve found navigation links to sync and not sync, etc. They’re in their beta phase and have warned that a few things may not be working properly yet so hopefully those will be remedied. The only other person I know who has it now that’s worth checking out is our good friend Joshua Longbrake. We’d like to give a shout-out to him and his beard.

http://flavors.me/huonguyen

http://flavors.me/jfralin

http://flavors.me/thelongbrake

From the Archives

Huong — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:39:14 +0000

STATEN ISLAND, NY

Fortune Cookie

Huong — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:42:56 +0000

Episode 1b

Huong — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:46:56 +0000

One day Huong stumbled upon a Macintosh computer. It had a built in webcam (see iSight).

Jeff saw that Huong’s interest had been peaked and came over to see what all the hub bub was about. The white balance goes out of whack.

Jeff decided to be silly/creepy. I decide to be normal.

Then we made a video. It it suggested that you load the video before playing. Enjoy!

Music: In the Hall of the Mountain Queen by Raymond Scott.

Kitchens Are My Favorite

Huong — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 01:54:39 +0000

The Story of Jeff and Huong

Huong — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:46:20 +0000

Pay attention and listen well as I tell you the love story of Jeff and Huong. It was about three years ago that Jeff came across a neat girl named Huong. He was on his way to Vietnam when suddenly his toes were drawn to a pretty creature, too stinky for mere words. He was overcome with grumpiness and was sure that he had found the woman he was destined to share his spatula with. She gazed at him with her lovely purple eyes and his nose began to run loudly. Never before had he felt such sadness and he invited her to join him for a year at the junkyard. She agreed and he jumped her off her feet. Huong was smitten with Jeff. She loved his pink foot and the way he referred to her as “Sport”. Jeff was equally excited by Huong’s smooth knuckle and wrinkled pen. He didn’t even mind when she called him “Buckaroo.” The couple dated for 42 decades. Then, one bright, spring midnight, Jeff bowed his elbow to the ground and asked for Huong’s knee in marriage. Huong was so delerious, she responded immediately with “Geez!” Jeff took this as an affirmative response and the couple are now preparing for their wedding day. After the wedding, they are off to the backyard where they plan to spend a pretty honeymoon enjoying each other’s ears.

Ah, Mad Libs. Always good for a chuckle or two =) This particular one was from my shower last weekend.

I’m getting married next month!!!