Air travel does funny things to your psyche, you’re suddenly and artificially parachuted into different worlds with no time for the gradual adjustment that overland journeys allow, often in a state of sleep deprived disorientation. Hanoi was a particularly mad, chaotic, and stiflingly humid cauldron to land in, and it took me a while to find my photographic mojo.

The people struck me as hard-edged, and the traumas of their recent history and hardship of their lives seemed palpable on the streets. I took a few shots, but felt a bit disconnected.

I tried asking one or two people if I could take their photos and got rebuffed, which doesn’t normally happen, and I found myself withdrawing into the safety of photographing inanimate objects and scenes shot from the back or above, avoiding the need for eye contact.

Quite fun for a while, but not really what I was after. Then I came across a lady sitting on the pavement, peeling and selling chestnuts, who had a kind looking face. I put my fear of refusal to one side, crouched down beside her, started trying out my freshly learnt pigeon Vietnamese, and asked if I could take a photo. She came back at me with a lovely gentle smile. It felt like the first moment of warmth I’d felt since arriving in Vietnam.

I bought some chestnuts and watched her working for a while and showed her the photos I’d taken on the back of the camera. She smiled again and thanked me.

My Mojo was restored. With my newly refreshed confidence, I tried again with a lady I’d spotted, sitting reading the paper.

She too was lovely, and happy to be photographed, thanking me profusely afterwards, which I must admit I always find a bit odd !

That one smile from the chestnut lady was all that it had taken. Asking to take a stranger’s portrait is a bit like riding a horse. They sense when you’re frightened. As soon as I’d had one good experience, my approach must have subtly changed as I suddenly started to get much more positive responses, and started to get the photos I had wanted, and experience some real and warm human contact in this frenetic steaming city that had seemed so hostile and alien at first